Wrath of Chaos
by Shugotenshi47
Summary: Mankind is threatened from all sides yet the most dangerous foe is the forces of Chaos. One group fights against this most feared enemy, the Ordo Malleus. This is the story of Inquisitor Rain LeBeau and her allies as they fight the long war against Chaos
1. Prologue

_In the closing years of the Forty-first millennium the Imperium was struck with the most devastating Black Crusade ever launched. Hundreds of worlds were drawn into the conflict, many of which were far removed from the main battleground of the conflict, faced attacks from the archenemy. One such incident was the Battle for Amatsu and the various battles leading up to it, in the ensuing conflict, which resulted in the deployment of several hundred Guard regiments and almost an entire Space Marine chapter._

_The Battle for Amatsu at the time was deemed a critical conflict as the Amatsu system holds strategic importance, being located in a critical location for trade and as a port for Naval assets. However, at the time no one could imagine the scope of the campaign and the far-reaching affects that it would cost. _

_From Light in the Dark: The tale of the destruction of the 13__th__ Black Crusade_

The official history of the Amatsu Conflict notes many important details. However, as with most conflicts there is a dark side to the war. A side marked with deceit and betrayal. The records of this side of the conflict have been seals for all except those who carry the I of the Inquisition. In these sealed records is a story of faith, betrayal, loyalty, honor, courage, and deceit. It is a story of revenge and sacrifice, and yes, even a story of love. It is how the love of country, of friends, of family, and the love between two star-crossed lovers who stood together against the darkness, took a stand and stalled the advance of the foul worshipers of Chaos for now.

It is the closing years of the Forty-first millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the master of mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. All of this balances on a knife's edge. In the black heart of the Eye of Terror ancient enemies plot against the Imperium. Old grudges will be settled as Abaddon the Despolier plots to strike out against the Imperium once more. Seizing the moment a plot begins to weave itself as dark forces plot against the system of Amatsu.

In that system ten thousand years ago an ancient enemy was humiliated. Now they seek revenge for those ancient injuries. Millions will die, worlds will be shattered, but the wrath of Chaos will be felt throughout the galaxy.


	2. Ch 1: Honorific Imperialis

Chapter 1: Honorific Imperialis

0056 Surface of Faralon III

"Stand your ground boy!" shouted Sergeant Kenji Hamura of the Amatsu 1st Independent Mixed Brigade, or Amatsu Brigade for short. Hamura was a big man with much of his body replaced with bionics after years of as first a gangster on the planet **Nourin in the Amatsu System, than an inmate at an Imperial Penal colony, and now as a soldier in the Imperial Guard. In front of him was a dirty youth, wearing a set of ragged looking lime green cloths, which might have once passed for a uniform but were little better than dirty rags. **

**"Sir?" asked the boy, fear in his voice and his primitive bolt-action rifle held loosely in his hands.**

**"Don't sir me damn it! I'm a sergeant not a confounded officer! Now get you and your buddies get your asses in gear and back us up! The traitors are making another push towards our position and if we don't stop them they'll be able to turn the flank of the assault and set us back another week." Hamura was not an officer, he was only just a sergeant but under his command were the remnants of his squad and an entire company of local troops. At present the number of men under his command was around forty making him the de facto commander of a highly unorthodox and defiantly under-strength platoon. The boy meekly nodded and began to fumble with his ammunition pouch as he reached for another clip of rounds for his rifle. **

"Sarge! They're making another advance!" shouted one of the men from his squad.

"Damn it! Get back to the firing line and prepare to hold." Hamura mustered his men together as they prepared themselves for the onslaught. He watched as the vital bridge that created a choke point between the disorganized Imperial left flank and the heart of the traitor's capital. "Vox operator! Send an urgent message to Major Takeda. Tell him that we're in danger of loosing the bridge if we're not reinforced soon."

Hamura sighed and he watched the traitors charge across the bridge again. The tightly packed ranks of the traitors made them easy pray for his squad's heavy bolter and the heavy stubbers of the local loyalists. Here he was, trying his best to survive and now it looked like the only choices left for him were death or glory. In order for his pardon to come into effect he had to survive five years of this shit and it looked like he would not even last one. He thought back to all the things that Takeda would say, the man was younger than Hamura and seemed to be such an idealist. Takeda in Hamura's eyes was a spoiled nobleman that had spent too much time listening to propaganda. Turning to one of the other convict soldiers he asked him.

"Have you ever thought Takeda has a point?"

"A point about what?"

"About all that duty and honor shit he keeps talking to us about. Look, we're probably not going to survive our five years for our pardons, he's made it painfully obvious about that when he assigned all of us into the same platoon and than asked us to hold this damn bridge among other things. So we're stuck between death and glory right now. Why shouldn't we go out guns blazing?"

"Hamura, you've gone soft. First you open up to that girl and now this shit." Both soldiers laughed as the traitors moved into rifle range and the Loyalists open fire with their rifles.

"Ah, fuck me…" Muttered Hamura.

"What is it?" asked the convict. Hamura pointed to the other side of the bridge as trio of armored clad behemoths began to walk the body-chocked bridge. "Space Marines!" Shouted the convict as fear began to grip him. The Marines' mere presence gave the rebels a major morale boost and the last few survivors charged straight into the bayonets of the defenders. As the last rebel was dispatched the platoon redirected their attention on the Marines as they walked through the hail of bullets and lasfire as if it were rain. Firing from their bolters they struck down Loyalists left and right cutting a path of death to the defense.

"Fall back! Everyone, pull back!" order Hamura as he fired with his laspistol.

"Banzai to the Emperor!" shouted an Amatsu Guardsman as he flung himself at the Marines, a grenade in each hand. The man exploded in a shower of blood in gore and slumped in a bloody mess at the feet of one of the Mainers. Hamura ducked down as both grenades went off. Hamura peeped over the lip of the pile of rubble he was behind and smiled as he saw the blood remains of the Marine lay on the ground.

"Hamura!" Came a voice of his vox set. "Get your ass out of there we'll cover you." Hamura got up and began to run with two enraged Marines behind him. In front of him he saw that Takeda had rallied the ad hoc platoon and had reinforced them with a company of his own men. The combined firepower should be able to stop the Marines, if it was the Emperors will. Hamura flung himself onto the ground and stayed low as Takeda's A Company open fire on the Marines. Hamura watched as one of the Marines fell but the other one was still in the fight and getting uncomfortably close to him. "Cease fire, you're going to hit the sergeant." Hamura, himself was not afraid he was prepared to fight. He drew his katana and tossed the sheath aside.

"Banzai!"

"For the Prince of Pleasure!" screamed the Chaos Champion. The two clashed in a fury of sword strokes and sparks as katana fought chainsword. The traitor swung his sword for Hamura's head only to have Hamura thwart his attack and deliver a powerful punch to the traitor's exposed face. Still reeling from the blow the traitor took one step back but this was all that Hamura needed and rammed his body into the traitor's body knocking him off balance. Hamura delivered a swift beheading blow to the neck only to be blocked by the traitor's massive armored shoulder. The marine swung down only to have Hamura side step and deliver a head turning uppercut to the marines face. This time the marine was ready and swiftly kneed Hamura and slammed his armored fist into the back of Hamura's armor knocking the soldier to the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Die Imperial dog!" screamed the Chaos Champion as he brought down his sword. Hamura swiftly thrusts his katana up at the traitor's head leaving a deep gash over the traitor's eye. The Traitor Marine recoiled in pain, leaving him off balance, letting Hamura swiftly kick out one of the Marine's leg knocking him to the ground. With a cry of victory Hamura scrambled onto his knees rammed his katana into the traitor's skull and watched as the Marine's body began spasm as he died. Takeda let out a sigh of relief and walked over to Hamura.

"You alright there Hamura?" asked Takeda as he walked over and offered the sergeant a helping hand.

"Just fine, sir."

"Good, because I'm putting your in for a Honorific Imperialis for your actions today." Hamura smiled sheepishly.

"Nothing to it sir. Just did what I had to do." Takeda smiled.

"Look Hamura, I know you just want to get out but listen. You were able to hold onto that damn bridge until they had to commit a few Marines to forces you off. You did good and you should be rewarded."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, now I got the Inquisitor on her way here. We're going to push across that bridge and take the fight to the enemy."

"Will that be all sir?" asked Hamura as he snapped to attention.

"Yes, that will be all, Lieutenant Kenji Hamura."

"Thank you, sir." Takeda nodded.

"Now get back with your platoon." The two parted as a black and red land raider drove up. Out walked Lady Inqusitor Rain LeBeau of the Ordo Malleus.

"Shugo, I take it everything is ready?" Asked the Inquisitor.

"Yes it is." Replied Takeda as he and Rain's retinue fell in around her.

"Lets begin than. Will you please do the honors, my dear Shugo?"

"I thought you never would ask." Takeda turned to his men and shouted out. "Amatsu brigade! Advance to meet the enemy! Banzai to the Emperor!" With a might roar his men responded as they advanced across the bridge.

"Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!" With that the Emperor's Holy Inquisition struck with the might of the Hammer of the Emperor against the daemonic forces of Chaos.


	3. Ch 2: In The Name of the Emperor, Hold!

Chapter 2: **Chapter 2: In Them Name of the Emperor, Hold! **

**0756 Upper Atmosphere of Oron V, two years earlier**

** Captain Shugo Takeda stood in the crowded A-22 transport and spoke into his vox unit. **

** "Ok everybody! You all know the drill; the Space Marines have landed and will have secured the perimeter of the primary LZs by the time we land. The follow up waves will be coming in right behind us so all we need to do is hold out until the main force arrives. Do you get me?"**

** "We get you, sir!" As the shouts died out Brigade's General Channel cracked to life as Colonel Mitsurugi began to address the men over the vox network and the loudspeakers in the transports. **

** "Men! This is it, the big one. Our orders are to land and hold the landing zone for the follow up waves. Now the God-Emperor has saw it fit to bless us with spearheading the initial landings. That means we will have to secure the LZ from the stiffest resistance. Once we take the LZ we are to hold it until the last man." There was a pause and everyone was quiet, even the roar of the Valkyrie's engines sounded quiet. "Banzai to the God-Emperor!" Suddenly the entire channel was filled with cries: "Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!"**

** "All units stand by to jump." The voice of the crew chief on the A-22 assigned to coordinate the jump sounded nervous. Takeda quickly double check his gear and prepared to jump. The rear hatched opened up and they prepared to jump out. "All units jump! Go! Go! Go!" Takeda and his men hurled themselves out of the aircraft and fell towards the ground. As soon the Amatsu guardsmen hit the ground the landing zone was filled with dark moving shapes as men moved into the wooded areas around them and began to clear out any Orks and find cover. Suddenly the landing zone was hit by a furious bombardment. Several men who were hit in the initial blasts were flung into the air while others disintegrated in a flash of fiery death. **

** "Spread out and take cover!" shouted Takeda over the vox. Takeda and many other drop troopers began stuffing branches and other bits foliage onto their helmets and fatigues as well as applying cloth camo-netting they carried with them that distorted their figures. **

**"All units spread out to your assigned areas and dig in!" Ordered Mitsurugi across the vox net. The units began to spread out across the LZ as artillery rained down on them and Orks charged mindlessly into their ranks. **

** Takeda looked down at his timepiece, fifty more minutes before the second wave. He looked around as several more explosions rang out around him. His A Company had set up positions to the far right flank of Bravo Sector, the west side of the landing zone. Orks were coming in from three directions, South, East, and West, while Ork artillery pounded them from the North. Ahead of him the recon squad hurriedly jumped into the Guard fighting positions while their leader, Sergeant Nagato, reported to Takeda.**

** "Captain, Sergeant Nagato reporting." The sergeant was breathing heavily as he stood at attention near Takeda.**

** "At ease Sergeant, give me your report." Nagato nodded and began.**

** "Sir we have at least a hundred-twenty or so Orks heading towards us now. They were about a click from entering the forests when we started to head back." **

** "Thank you, return to you squad and pass the word around quietly to prepare to engage." **

** "Yes, sir." Nagato saluted and left. Takeda motioned for Hyori and the rest of A. Company's snipers over to him.**

** "Greenskins are going to coming soon so stand by and engage targets of opportunity." The snipers acknowledged their orders and each took up positions to take out the advancing Orks. Takeda could hear the Orks closing in on his position; smell them too. He gave a silent command to his autocannon gunners and missile launcher crews and they let loose a devastating barrage onto the Ork mob. Blooded but not discouraged the Orks continued as the heavy bolters and snipers began pouring shots onto them. They died by the dozens but they still kept coming. As the Orks began to close into the Guard lines, lasguns and Ork weapons began to bark across the line. Several Guardsmen were stuck by Orkish fire and fell with gaping wounds in their bodies, as the Orks continued to advance. Takeda's men were firing short bursts of las-fire into the Orkish ranks cutting down the Orks, leaving their dead strewn across the battlefield. Faced with the unrelenting barrage of fire the Orks broke and fled. Orks ran as fast as they could away from the battle, while A Company rose from their positions and advanced towards the edge of the forest and set up new positions that gave them a clear killing field outside of the wooded area. Takeda looked up and saw the transports of the second wave begin their final decent. **

** "Captain Takeda, move your men further west and reinforce 2****nd**** Battalion." The commanding voice of Takeda's father, General Yukimura Takeda, came over the vox.**

** "Acknowledged." Takeda looked to his men. "A Company lets move out." A Company shifted positions and soon reached the far left flank of 2****nd**** Battalion. Before them was a scene of total devastation. Dead Guardsmen and Orks were everywhere and the smoldering hulks of Ork trukks, warbuggies, and wartrakks littered the battlefield, it was obvious a fierce battle had been fought there. A young corporal ran over to them.**

** "Thank the Emperor you're here sir. I'm Corporal Koizumi sir, D Company 2****nd**** Battalion." The corporal gave a tired salute. **

** "Captain Takeda, A company, 1****st**** Battalion. Tell me corporal, what the hell happened here. I thought there was a full company assigned to his position?" Takeda looked as several heavily depleted squads Guardsmen struggled to move equipment to man an area a platoon normally would be assigned to cover.**

** "Sir, Orks came through here. Must have been hundreds of them. They smashed through the 1****st**** Platoon at our center. The captain was killed almost as soon as we made contact. Command over the company quickly broke down right after and 1****st**** and 3****rd**** Platoons were surrounded and the fighting went down to largely hand to hand. Shortly afterwards E Company reinforced our position. Lieutenant Hamasaki is in command right now sir."**

** "Thank you Corporal. Where is Lieutenant Hamasaki anyway?"**

** "I'll take you to him sir." Corporal Koizumi turned around and began to lead Captain Takeda to Hamasaki's Company HQ.**

** "Lieutenant Nakamura take charge until I return." Shouted Takeda. Nakamura saluted and began to shout out orders. Takeda, guided by Koizumi, walked towards where the ad-hoc HQ that had been set up at. The Guardsmen they past watched in amazement as Takeda and the command squad moved perfectly in step, as if they were on parade. When Takeda entered the makeshift bunker that served as Hamasaki's command post, everyone in the room stared at him for a moment and then snapped to attention. A private working one of the vox-sets snapped to attention and shouted out.**

** "Atten-hut!" Swiftly everyone in the room was at attention.**

**"At ease. I am Captain Takeda, where is Lieutenant Hamasaki?" The men in the bunker relaxed slightly but still stood rigidly. A young soldier with what looked like brand new lieutenant insignia on his uniform in the rear of the makeshift bunker spoke up.**

** "I'm Hamasaki, sir." Lieutenant Hamasaki was barely older then Corporal Koizumi and had a brand new lieutenant rank insignia scratch on it.**

** "Give me a sitrep, Lieutenant."**

** "Yes, sir. Well sir, the Orks attacked this position in force about 0832. The captain was killed shortly after by Orkish fire. The Kempei (a member of the Kempetai, the Amatsu version of the commissar) took charge and led 1st Platoon until they were wiped out almost to the last man. The commander of 2****nd**** Platoon, Lieutenant Tomita, was killed during the countercharge and I assumed command."**

** "Good work holding this position until we got here lieutenant. My men have already set up positions along side your men. We'll be ready for the next attack. Again, good job Lieutenant, keep me posted." Takeda turned and left. Everyone in the room once again snapped to attention and saluted.**

** "Yes sir." Hamasaki and his staff saluted as Takeda walked out. As soon as they had gone out of earshot of the command post Takeda turned to Hyori. **

** "Poor guy, barely out of officer school and being stuck having to command an entire company or… at least with what's left of it." Hyori nodded and replied**

**"Well it could have been worse, sir. They could have completely collapsed." **

**"Point taken."**

**They continued walking along the impromptu defenses until they reached the position that Nakamura had set up the company HQ. Takeda looked it over, a simple dugout covered with wood and foliage for protection and camouflage. Nakamura saluted as Takeda walked into the bunker and spoke.**

** "Captain we've been reinforced by two squads of Space Marines. Their commander would like to talk to you." Takeda nodded and Nakamura waved over a massive red armored Space Marine.**

** "I am Brother Sergeant Solomon of the Crimson Guardians. It is an honor to meet you Captain Takeda." Takeda smiled warmly at the Space Marine sergeant. The massive super human warrior stared back.**

** "And it is an honor to meet you Brother Sergeant. How can me and my men be of service to you and your brothers?"**

** "Captain as you have more experience commanding Guard forces I would be more interest in hearing how my Space Marines can be of service to your Guardsmen." Solomon's voice was sincere and humble. Takeda nodded and motioned for Private Saigo to hand him a data-slate. Saigo handed him the data-slate and Takeda brought it to life and began to point of positions on the holographic map it projected.**

** "Theses here are the positions where my Guardsmen have taken up." Takeda point to several areas marked in blue. "I would like your men here, on our far right flank, here at the center, here on the far left flank, and one group with the reserve platoon here." As he names each position he points them out on the map. Solomon nodded and spoke into his vox set, his orders were acknowledged within a second. **

** "My men are on there way right now. If you excuse me Captain I shall go attend to my Space Marines." Sergeant Solomon's towering figure turned and exited the command post. Takeda turned to Nakamura and began to belt out orders.**

** "Nakamura, I want the scout units set up in advance observation positions in a five hundred meter perimeter in front of the main lines. I want them to vox in any enemy movements and to skirmish with them if they get within one hundred meters of their positions. They are to fall back if the opposing strength is too great for them to handle. Make sure they understand that they are just there as advance warning and not a speed bump or a first line of defense." Nakamura nodded.**

** "Yes, sir" He turned and took one of the vox sets from one of the vox operators and radioed the orders for the recon squads while Takeda and his staff walked out of the command post and began surveying the lines. Takeda looked around him and saw the men of the 1****st**** Amatsu Landing Regiment dug in all around him. The men had carefully concealed themselves among the trees and bushes. Takeda turned around and walked back into the command post, found a corner and sat down and waited. **

** Meanwhile his father, General **Yukimura Takeda swore loudly. He sat in a hastily constructed field headquarters directing the battle using holomaps and as much of his tactical prowess as possible. Sweat beaded around his head as he directed the battle. Millions of Orks from across the continent were heading towards the landing zones and if the rest of the invasion force could not land within forty-eight hours then the Imperial foothold will be overrun.

"Lieutenant when will the armor units be launched from the transports?"

"In about," the lieutenant looked at his timepiece, "fifteen minutes and they'll land in about thirty and be fully offloaded in about forty minutes." General Takeda nodded.

"Thank you. One more thing, which unit just landed in our zone?"

"Umm, I'll find out sir." The lieutenant picked up a vox-set and sent a message to the newly arrived Guard unit. After a few moments the lieutenant put down the vox-set. "Sir they are the Sylmar 1st Partisan Rangers." General Takeda nodded and spoke softly.

"Tell their commander to move his men to western flank and dig in alongside the men we have there." The lieutenant saluted and relayed the message to the Sylmarian guardsmen. General Takeda sighed loudly and looked at the holomap once again. "Lieutenant, do you know when the artillery arrive?"

"I'll find out sir." General Takeda sighed again.

"Alright listen up you lousy dogs! We just got orders from a General umm," Colonel David "Dave" Storm or just Storm to just about anyone he knew shouted to his men. "God-Emperor take me and fuck me sideways I can't pronounce this son of a bitch's name!" A roar of laughter erupted from the Sylmar 1st Partisan Rangers informally known as "The War Dogs." "Well whatever the hell his name is he is in charge of this LZ and we got orders. Our orders are to go to the western flank of the LZ and reinforce a battalion from the 1st Atasu Brigade or wherever the hell they're from. Once we get there, we're gonna dig in and kill any fucking Ork that has the guts to fight us." Another roar erupted form his men. "Move out! Let's go kill ourselves some fucking Orks!" The War Dogs cheered again and began to mobilize.

Captain Takeda popped his head outside the command post and surveyed his men's position. The wait was killing him. For the past three hours, there had only been minor attacks. Even the Space Marines looked bored waiting for someone to fight. The Amatsu tank units had come down about two hours ago, followed by the Amatsu artillery units an hour latter. The thunderous blasts of the artillery roared persistently. Behind him, Private Saigo, his aid, ran out and handed a message to Takeda. Takeda read it swiftly and walked back inside the command post. "This is Takeda to all Amatsu units on the Western flank. We have reinforcements inbound. They are the Sylmar 1st Partisan Rangers. I repeat friendly forces are inbound from the rear to reinforce our positions. Acknowledge. Takeda out" A fury of acknowledgements followed his message.

Ten minutes later Storm and the three companies under his direct command emerged from the forest and stopped in their tracks and spread out and began to advance slowly. "Hey Borino! Wasn't that other unit supposed to be here?" whispered Storm.

"Yeah they were supposed to be here Storm," replied Master Sergeant Brandon "Borino" Thomas, Company Sergeant for the 1st Company. Suddenly men emerged all around the Sylmarian Guardsmen. Takeda approached the mildly surprised Sylmarians and saluted.

"I'm Captain Takeda, the commander of the Amatsu units here." He looked around and saw that many of the Sylmarian Guardsmen wore simple short-sleeve shirts under their body armor and many did not have helmets or even Guard issue pants. Storm scrunched up his face and held out his hand.

"Colonel Dave Storm, Sylmar 1st Partisan Rangers. Captain how the hell do you say your name?"

"It's Ta-Ke-Da, Colonel." Takeda replied as he shook the Colonel's hand.

"Thank you Captain and you can just call me Storm if you want to, just about everyone else dose."

"Alright then umm, Colonel. Have your men set up alongside mine; if there are any problems with their placement, one of my officers will help you. Sound fair?"

"Yes it does captain." Storm turned to his men. "You heard him dogs! Find a spot and get comfortable!" His men replied with a ferocious cheer and moved out along the lines. "So captain how many of this fuckers do you expect us to deal with before we get pulled off the line?"

"Well Colonel, we haven't been hit with a major attack for almost four hours, so we suspect they're building up troops for an attack, under cover just beyond our kill zone. We expect an attack in-between now and about two hours."

"How many Orks do you expect to attack us?"

"Maybe five hundred in this zone." Takeda said bluntly.

"Shit," muttered Storm. "Captain, I'm going to go make sure my men are settling in alright. Call me on the vox if the shit starts to fly." Takeda saluted smartly.

"Roger that sir." After Storm had walked out of earshot, Takeda turned to Hyori and said, "Well for a Colonel he seems pretty friendly."

"Well sir, his world probably doesn't respect authority and discipline as much as we do. Do you think we can rely on them when the fighting starts?" Hyori asked inquisitively.

"Well, he sure seems confident enough."

"I see sir." Hyori replied as she absent-mindedly twirled her custom butterfly knife in her hands. Takeda looked over the young woman that served as his chief sniper, advisor, and one of his most important aides. He could see her trademark snake earring on her right ear. Takeda smiled and then he stopped, as he looked Hyori dead in the eye. She stood there still as a statue and then spoke abruptly, "Sir, I have a feeling the Orks are going to attack soon." Takeda nodded.

"I feel it too, warriors instinct." The two ran towards the command post as Private Saigo ran out.

"Captain, we just got holopics from the fleet! They have orbital shots of a large force of Orks advancing on our position!" Takeda reacted on instinct.

"Pass the words out to all units, prepare for maximum resistance! I want the reserve units on stand by and all heavy weapon crews ready to go. Get a message to Colonel Storm and Brother-Sergeant Solomon; have them ready their troops right now! And tell the recon units to fall back to the primary positions!" Saigo saluted and shouted.

"Yes, sir!" He ran back inside the command post and began to pass the word around to the men inside. Amid the rush of activity Takeda was belting out orders.

"Sergeant Tomita to me! When the battle starts I want the company standard flying high above the heads of my men! Everyone lock n' load. This is it!" Storm ran up.

"Are they coming?" Takeda nodded and Storm whooped in excitement. "Fuck yeah! I've been waiting for this since we got planetside! I'll be setting up my command post near yours Captain. I'll see you in a few." Takeda saluted Storm as the Colonel ran off to set up his command post.

"Corporal! Has command been notified of our situation?" The corporal operating the company master-vox looked up.

"Yes sir. I'm being patched through to artillery in a minute I'll give them fire coordinates on your command sir."

"Good man! Tell them to fire at," Takeda looked at a dataslate, "Grid Tango Victor Charlie 45! Full barrage!" The corporal shouted an affirmative and began to relay the coordinates to the Guard artillery positions at the main landing site. Saigo half crawled and half ran to Takeda position.

"Sir, Orks coming out from beyond the hill. Looks like there are at least several hundred of them. They'll be in range pretty soon." Takeda shouted back.

"And so will we! Is everyone ready?" Saigo nodded.

"Lieutenant Hamasaki reports that his men are ready to fire on your orders, sir."

"OK, then lets finish this." Takeda pulled out a set of binoculars and popped his head over the edge of the spider hole and surveyed the advancing Orks. He looked at his timepiece.

The artillery should be coming down any time now. Suddenly dozens of large explosions were heard as the barrage of artillery shells fell onto the Orks. Takeda looked up to observe the destruction and to his horror that instead of scattering the initial attack it caused the Orks to attack in a single massive wave. Dozens of Ork vehicles streamed out towards his position.

"Corporal! Tell the artillery to keep firing until further orders!" He grabbed another soldier nearby that was operating one of squad vox-sets. "Private! Tell all units to fire at will!" The private shouted an affirmative and within seconds, mortars, missile launchers, and autocannons opened fire, raining death and destruction. The Orks returned fire with shootas, rokkits, and others weapons. "Tomita raise the standard now!" The sergeant quickly removed the protective covering on the standards and unfurled it above the command post. More explosions racked the Guard position as the fighting began to evolve into the living hell war was.

"Man down! Man down! Medic!" shouted one of the War Dogs as he dragged the bloodied remains of a fellow Dog. Sergeant Major Saito ran over and began performing first aid.

"Emperor save us!" shouted one of the Amatsu Guardsmen as the fighting intensified. Takeda looked to his left and saw Hyori line up a shot. She squeezed the trigger and one of the Ork vehicles explode in a flash of fiery death.

"Good shot!" Takeda shouted.

"Thank you, sir." Hyori replied and continued firing at the Orks. The Orks, being the animals they are, continued to charge blindly towards the Imperial positions as casualties mounted on both sides. Takeda fired like a madman with his lascarbine as the Orks closed in on his men.

"Damn it!" He grabbed Lieutenant Nakamura and shouted. "Nakamura get inside the command post and tell the vox operators to call in more artillery strikes now!" Nakamura shouted back.

"Yes, sir!" He turned and half crawled and half dashed along the rows of spider holes and trenches to the command post. He threw himself inside and Takeda let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly the command post exploded in a brilliant flash of light.

"Nakamura!" Takeda shouted. "Damn it!" the captain swore. He took his personal vox and shouted to Storm. "Colonel my CP has been hit. I need you to call in the artillery from now on!"

"Roger that," came the reply. "My men are calling in a full barrage to try to knock those bastards back. Also, Captain, I'm ordering all reserve units to move up and engage the enemy. Storm out!"

"Roger! Takeda out!" Takeda swore loudly again and made a mad dash to the remains of his command post and crawled inside. Inside, one of the vox operators lay slumped against the vox-set he was operating. A large gaping wound on his head and neck. Takeda moved past the man or what was left of him and saw another vox operator who looked back at him with lifeless eyes. "Emperor have mercy." He muttered and continued his search. He pulled off a bit of the splintered timber and saw Nakamura laying bellow. "Nakamura!" Nakamura blinked and looked up at Takeda.

"They got me sir. I can't feel my legs and my right arm," Replied Nakamura weakly. Takeda looked down and saw the stump that had once been Nakamura's right arm, blood was quickly pooling up around him.

"Don't move Nakamura. I'll get Saito in here right now." He turned and shouted onto his personal vox. "Saito! Nakamura's down at the CP I need you over here now!" He turned back to the badly wounded officer. "Don't worry Saito is on his way." Takeda moved closer to Nakamura and saw that his legs had been completely crushed by falling debris. "Damn…" He muttered and then he heard another low groan to his left, he turned and saw another Guardsman laying there, blood streaming down the left side of his face and a large gash on his right leg.

"Captain…" the Guardsman muttered and fell back his hand pressed against the wound on his face.

"Nakamura don't move. I'm going to help another man. I'll be right back. Don't die on me damn it." Saito dove head first into the command post and almost hit his head on one of the fallen logs.

"Where do you need me captain?" shouted the medic.

"Take care of Nakamura! I'm getting another man right now."

"Right!" Saito crouched near Nakamura and began to give him medical attention. Takeda reached the wounded Guardsman and grabbed the man as gently as he could and dragged him towards Saito. Takeda put his hand on Saito's shoulder.

"How is he?" Takeda asked quietly.

"Lieutenant Nakamura isn't going to make it but it looks like I can save the other man." Takeda nodded.

"Do what you need to do Staff Sergeant." Takeda turned to Nakamura and said his good byes. "Nakamura it's been an honor serving with you." Nakamura grinned even as his life began to slip away.

"I die for the Emperor, Captain." Nakamura tried to salute with the stump of his arm and Takeda returned it. "Banzai to the Emperor!"

"Banzai to the Emperor." Replied Takeda and then he turned to Saito. "Get him stable and move him to the collection area." Saito saluted.

"Yes, sir." Takeda turned and ran back to his position. Almost as soon as he hit the bottom of the hole he was fighting from Sergeant Solomon ran over with a duo of Space Marines and they crouched down near Takeda.

"Captain Takeda, my Space Marines have engaged the enemy across our sector these foul xenos will not get through our lines." Takeda nodded and Solomon stood up and the Space Marines began to advance towards several of the forward positions to give their firepower to the besieged Guardsmen.

"Takeda!" shouted Storm over the vox. "Takeda this is Storm. Fuck man, I swear a major shit storm just started." Takeda stopped breathing for a moment.

"What's going on colonel?" asked he asked as fear began to grip his soul/

"The entire LZ is under attack. Two of the secondary LZ have already been over run. There are reports of at least five regiments that have been wiped out. Shit there are confirmed reports of two full regiments being completely lost at each LZ. Shit man, this isn't looking good." Takeda stopped breathing.

"Roger that. Takeda out." Takeda ducked as another rocket exploded near his position. "Damn it all!"


	4. Ch 3: In The Name of the Emperor, Fight!

Chapter 3: In The Name of The Emperor, Fight!

1316 Surface of Oron V

"Lieutenant, tell the artillery to concentrate fire on the north and western sectors." General Takeda sat in his headquarters, set up on the huge hill over looking the primary landing zone. He turned to another aide. "Captain, I want all unengaged armored units but the reserve units to move to the eastern sector and prepare to engage the enemy." The captain saluted and began to carry out his orders. "Major tell me what units have just landed?" The major looked down at the dataslate in his hand and replied.

"Sir, one regiment of light infantry, two of heavy infantry, one mechanized, and an armored regiment." General Takeda nodded and then began to give out orders.

"Order the mechanized and armored regiments to move to the western sector, have the heavy infantry move to the northern sector and have the light infantry go to the southern sector."

"Yes, sir!" shouted the major.

The battle spread out over three primary landing zones and five secondary zones, stretching almost across the continent as almost a million Guardsmen fought to hold off the Orks while the follow up forces arrived. Millions of Orks rushed to fight this massive battle screaming their battle cries as they engaged the Imperial forces. Already the Orks had overrun two of the secondary landing zones and the rest were abandoned as the Imperial Forces fell back to defend their main positions.

The initial lands performed by the drop troop and air cavalry units were taken using orbital bombardment and rapid strikes completely overwhelming the Orks in the area. Yet despite all of that the Imperials had grossly underestimated the Orks and were being attack from all directions, as Orks seem to just appear out of thin air wreaking havoc across the battlefield. Screams of panic were heard across the vox networks as Imperial commanders struggled to maintain order. Finally in the end Imperial commanders began calling for evacuation. General Takeda's eyes widen in shock all of the secondary landing zones and one primary zone were being abandoned.

"Major, inform all units to fall back to the alternate positions and prepare to evacuate the landing zone." The major nodded and began to relay the orders. The entire battle had just gone to hell.

"Captain Takeda! We just got orders to fall back." Shouted Hamasaki as the roar the gunfire and battle raged around them. They had been fighting almost nonstop for almost two hours and were beginning to run low on ammunition. The Orks had badly mauled their lines in a number of places as they swarmed around the Guardsmen.

"Understood! All units fall back! I repeat fall back!" Takeda and the men near him began a fighting retreat. The Space Marines followed behind them quickly as both the Guard and the Space Marines fell back with as much organization as possible. Takeda and Storm expertly organized their men as they fell back fighting a running battle that slowed the Ork advance to a crawl as impromptu traps and ambushes forced Orks to fight an enemy that was not going to take them head on.

Takeda and his men swiftly darted through the forest they would withdraw in halves. One half of the company would run while the other half would provide covering fire. It was a simple yet effective strategy to hold the green tide of Orks back. Takeda fired a burst of lasfire from his lascarbine and watched as an Ork fell smoking holes protruded from its face and torso only to be promptly replaced by another three Orks. He shouted into his vox unit.

"Odd units, fall back! Even, covering fire!" Takeda shouted as 2nd Platoon and what was left of D Company began poured fire onto the Orks. Takeda turned to Hyori and shouted. "Let's go!" Hyori nodded in response and they began to swiftly move through the forest. Takeda could see the forest edge and just beyond that was the safety of the Imperial lines. "Odd covering fire! Even fall back!" Takeda crouched down by a tree and fired short controlled bursts into the enemy. Hamasaki ran past Takeda and shouted.

"Captain, my men will fall back to the rally point." Takeda nodded and shouted.

"All units fall back! I repeat fall back to the rally point!" Takeda turned and along with his men ran as fast as they could. Takeda and his men hurled themselves over sandbag walls and dove into the safety of the Imperial trenches. Pushing their way past the men manning the defenses they moved to their rally point. There they moved their wounded to the hospitals and began to re-supply and rearm.

"2nd Platoon, move the wounded to the hospitals. Everyone else get some supplies, we're going to need more ammo, water, and grenades at this rate." Shouted Takeda. He took off his helmet and wiped sweat off his forehead. As he did so Saigo ran up to him.

"Captain, we just got new orders from command." Saigo stopped and saluted briefly. "Orders are for us to report to the landing zone for special assignment. We are to report to General Takeda personally when we get there." Saigo paused for a moment and then asked. "What do you think is happening sir?"

"I have no idea. Pass the word around. We're moving out in five minutes make sure everyone packs extra ammo, I have a feeling we're going to need it." Saigo saluted and shouted.

"Yes, sir!" As Saigo went and began to pass Takeda's orders to the rest of the company Takeda turned and spoke to Saito.

"Saito. How many men did we lose?" Saito looked up and him and replied almost instantly.

"Out of the entire company we have eighteen killed, fifteen wounded, and five missing." Saito reported. Takeda nodded.

"Saito, I want you to bring extra medical equipment with us just in case." Saito saluted.

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Remember we only got five minutes." Takeda turned and walked away not even looking to see if Saito acknowledged his words. It did not matter to Takeda, he knew Saito was the most dependable sergeant in his platoon and would be ready to go probably before himself. He sighed and wondered what their urgent mission was going to be and began to refill his ammo pouches.

After several minutes Takeda had assembled his men in formation in front of his father, General Takeda. His father looked over the men once and then spoke.

"Son, can we speak privately?" Takeda nodded and his father led him aside. "Shugo, what I'm asking you to do is extremely dangerous. If you and your men weren't what they asked for I wouldn't give you this mission. I got two Inquisitors asking me for you specifically and support. I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to be very dangerous so be careful." Takeda nodded to his father and saluted.

"We won't let you down, sir." Takeda replied even though his eyes betrayed a different emotion.

"I know you won't and you never have Shugo. I have always been proud of you." Takeda's eyes narrowed and his reply was short and bitter.

"With all due respect. I hate you sir." He saluted again and walked away and did not look back.

"I know." Came the reply that Takeda would never hear. Takeda returned to the formation and saw his old comrade and friend Inquisitor Leon Von Morris of the Ordo Xenos there with his personal guard and another Inquisitor he had never seen before. Grinning slightly he walked up to the inquisitor and held out his hand.

"Leon it's good to see you again." Leon took Takeda's hand and shook it firmly.

"Shugo, I would like to introduce you to my associate from the Ordo Malleus. I present to you Lady Inquisitor Rain LeBeau." Takeda bowed in the manner and respect of a noble of his class.

"Lady Inquisitor it is an honor to meet you." The silver cloaked Inquisitor smiled and returned Takeda's bow.

"And it is an honor for me to meet the Guard officer that Leon praises so highly." Rain turned and called for her retinue to approach. "I would like to introduce you to my assistants." Her beautiful, form-fitting armor sparkled as she motioned to one of her assistants. Takeda briefly gazed at her figure before he turned his attention to the assistant. "Captain, this is Captain Jack Aguilar, he commands my personal transport, The Lone Voyager, and owns the three escort ships." Takeda shook hands with the dark-skinned captain. "This over here is my security expert, SunYu Koo." Takeda offered his hand to the tall, lanky security expert. "Here is my lifelong friend, Sister Eristiel of the Ecclesiarchy." Takeda and Eristiel exchanged the sign of the Aquilla. "And finally, this is my assistant, Lance Vlinstad." Takeda offered his hand to Lance who meekly returned the greeting.

"It is a pleasure to meet all of you," said Takeda.

"Now that the pleasantries are over, let's board our vehicles. We don't have much time to spare." Rain nodded in approval as the two inquisitors, Takeda, and his command squad boarded an A-22 Washi (a large vertical takeoff transport jet specially built in the Amatsu system.) Takeda's A Company and Captain Jack's crew bordered their vehicles. Leon's personal guard of handpicked female storm trooper teams and SunYu's elite personal security team boarded their own Valkyries. As the transports lifted off Rain turned to Captain Takeda.

"Captain, we in the Inquisition have been monitoring this planet. At first, it appeared to be a normal Ork infested planet. However, we realized that some of the Orks have banded together. While this normally would be of little concern to the Ordo Malleus, they were rallying under the star of Chaos." Takeda's eyes widened in shock and he realized the gravity of their mission. Leon replied.

"That is why both the Ordo Xenos and the Ordo Malleus has dispatched Inquisitors here to fight this threat. Unfortunately something has gone wrong. The main Ork stronghold should have been destroyed by orbital bombardment, yet somehow thousands of Orks are still pouring out of it. Our mission is to infiltrate the stronghold and plant a virus bomb. While we are there, we are also to look for signs to confirm daemonic influence and assess if it is influence from within the Orks themselves or have they been influenced by outside forces." Takeda nodded and then asked.

"Why us? Why don't you get some Space Marines to do this for you?" Leon replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Because I know you and your men. I knew what to expect. Plus, Rain has wanted to meet you for a while. I told her about the mission on Karon VI against the Tau and our daring commando strike that brought down the shields that protected that last stronghold." Takeda nodded.

"I remember that one; I got a medal and a promotion for following your insane plan." Leon smiled wickedly and replied.

"It worked didn't it?" Takeda nodded again.

"I'll give you that one." Takeda looked out the window and saw that several Vulture gunships, Lightning fighters, and Marauder bombers had joined the transports as they sped towards their target. Leon noticed Takeda's stare of amazement and smiled again.

"I got some help from the Navy, those fighters and bombers are going to bomb the hell out of the landing zone while the gunships provide air support."

"You have this all planned out, don't you?"

"Yes I do. I want this to be a quick in and out." Takeda looked at Leon and asked slowly.

"Who is going to be carrying the bomb?" asked Takeda.

"My servitor will be," replied Rain, she then motioned over to a servitor with a heavy bolter for an arm. "He'll be carrying the virus bomb. His name is Alexander Todd Johnson, but just call him Alex for short." Takeda nodded again.

"You really have this well thought out." Takeda said. Leon laughed.

"Hell no. Once we found the source of the daemonic influence, I just started ordering around a bunch of officers for support." Takeda groaned as Leon looked down at his timepiece. "The Navy bombers should be launching their attacks right... about… Now. We'll land in two minutes." Takeda nodded again and spoke into the Company's vox channel.

"A Company! Touch down in two minutes! Let's do this!"

Leon spoke softly to Takeda, "Shugo, I have something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"All of the landing zones have been overrun except your father's. Once we finish this, we're going straight to orbit. The evacuation has already begun and if we fail to return after the last transports leave the surface, they are going to bombard the planet." Takeda's eyes widened.

"So we need to get this done fast, don't we?"

"Yes."

"Great." Takeda reactivated the Company's vox channel and spoke again, "Listen up! I just got some information. The Imperial Forces are evacuating this planet in order to regroup. However, our mission continues regardless. Each and every single one of you better understand this. If we do not get into orbit by the time the last of the Imperial forces are evacuated, they will bomb our position form orbit. We need to breach the enemy position as fast as we can or else we are all going to die. I'm ordering everyone to go in bayonets fixed as of right now. Takeda out." Takeda let out a groan of frustration and took the safety off his lascarbine as he prepared to go out guns blazing. He firmly attached his bayonet to his lascarbine in a single, efficient motion.

The flight of A-22, Valkyrie dropships, and their Vulture escorts flew in low and fast over the tree line. Rockets, missiles, heavy bolter rounds, and multi-laser rained upon the dazed Orks. The A-22 hovered low above the ground as the rear hatch opened and the Inquisition troops came pouring out. Rain pointed towards the enemy stronghold.

"Leon, Captain Takeda. I sense the daemonic influence inside that stronghold." Leon turned to Takeda and spoke.

"Shugo, you know what to do." Takeda nodded.

"Amatsu! Follow me!" shouted Takeda as he charged towards the Ork stronghold. The Guard advanced unopposed as they executed the few Ork survivors. A Company reached the bombed out entrance of the Ork stronghold and were guided by Rain down a large flight of stairs down deep into the Ork stronghold. Takeda side stepped an Ork choppa and jammed his bayonet into the Ork's sternum, splattering blood everywhere. He quickly let go of his carbine and drew his plasma pistol and katana and continued to fight. Orks closed in on the strike team from all sides. Quickly surveying the situation, he saw one of Leon's handpicked storm troopers go down scream as several Orks viciously hacked her apart. "Damn it! In the name of the Emperor, fight! We must break through them!" he shouted as he tried to rally his Guardsmen to break through the tide of Orks.

"Captain! Take the next left turn quickly!" shouted Rain. "A daemonic presence is there. I can feel it. Take Alex and plant the bomb right now! Or else we." Rain was abruptly cut off and several Orks tackled her, knocking her to the ground. Takeda charged forward, beheading an Ork with an expert stroke and killing two more with several quick shots from his plasma pistol.

"Lady Inquisitor!" he shouted. He saw Rain blast the Orks off using her physic abilities and shout towards him.

"Go! We'll hold them here!" Takeda nodded and quickly took that left turn with Alex trailing a few feet behind him, blasting with his heavy bolter. Takeda charged madly at a group of three Orks that stood before him on a small landing and knocked them down the stairwell. In furry, Takeda rode the three bodies down the stairs and braced himself as he saw a door appear at the bottom of the stairs. With a sickening crunch and a few bruises Takeda stood up. . The Orks he had rode down and used to break his fall ad broken down the door and he stood in a large dimly lit room, along the wall were symbols of Chaos and daemonic power. In the far side of the room stood a massive Slaaneshi icon. He stood weapons at the ready as he saw Orks clearly affected by Chaos. Horns and claws grew from their twisted bodies as they stood in ordered rows swaying in unison all chanting in one voice.

"Slaanesh! Slaanesh! Slaanesh!" To Takeda the chanting just got louder and louder and then he heard a voice almost like it was talking to him across a great distant. He blinked and several yards from him stood an Ork its green skin had been warped into a blood red and grotesque horns grew from its body. It spoke in a deep raspy voice that seemed to paralyze Takeda.

"Join us human. Relish in the glorious pleasure of Slaanesh. Fight in his name and you gain great power and pleasure. Renounce the Emperor and take up the icon of Slaanesh!" Takeda lifted up his plasma pistol and fired once. The bolt hit the Ork in the face and it collapsed in a heap in front of Takeda. A laugh erupted from all around him seemingly from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Do you think a simple plasma pistol can kill me mortal? I will show you the Prince of Pleasure's will." With a sicken crunch, the body of the Ork was lifted up into the air as if by invisible strings. Takeda stood paralyzed by the bizarre event happening in front of him.

"For the Emperor!" shouted Rain and she flew past Takeda and drover her power sword deep into the mass of flesh that once was an Ork. Lashing out with her physic abilities Rain sent a bolt of physic soul-lighting, incinerating the mass of flesh. "Alex, arm the bomb." The servitor moved mechanically as it did its task. Rain, meanwhile, whirled like a phantom among the Orks, slashing, stabbings and shooting all indiscriminately. Takeda had snapped out of his trance and was firing with his plasma pistol.

"The Bomb is armed, Lady Inquisitor." Said Alex as it stood up and began to fire with its heavy bolter.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" shouted Rain as she lashed out with her powerful abilities and then ran up the stairs. Takeda threw a fragmentation grenade into the growing pile of Orks and followed Rain


	5. Ch 4: Chaos Triumphant

Chapter 4: Chaos Triumphant

1501 Bellow the surface of Oron V

The Inquisition strike force fought furiously through the mobs of Orks blocking their escape as they rushed through the passageways under the Ork's stronghold. The fighting was up close and personal as the strike force charged towards the surface.

"I want evac waiting for us before we reach the surface." Shouted Rain into her vox set that linked her to the commander of the drop ships. "I don't care that the LZ is hot, just be waiting for us. We don't have time to wait for you to come down to land and pick us up." Frustration was evident on her face despite the ornate armored mask she wore over her head that obscured much of her face and head. Diving back into the melee, she single handedly blasted a mob of Orks out of her way with her powers clearing a path to the surface. Taking advantage of the opening Takeda shouted out an order.

"Sergeant Nagato, take point and secure that stairway!"

"Roger that!" Nagato led his squad charging, screaming up the stairs bayonets leveled, ready to kill anything that blocked their path. They reached the top and burst out onto the surface. There they saw the drop ships still waiting for them. Hovering just a handful of meters above the ground, the A-22 stood their ground as their door gunners blazing away as they blasted the Orks trying to rush the landing zone.

"Captain! The LZ is clear! Hurry!" shouted Nagato down the stairs.

"Acknowledged! Everyone up the stairs quickly! Lieutenant Sanada! Take your men and cover our rear!" Takeda shouted as he rushed up the stairs with his men. Reaching the top he turned and fired several shots from his plasma pistol and threw a grenade as the last members of Sanada's 3rd Platoon reached the surface and ran with them to the waiting transports. Takeda threw himself into the transport the Inquisitors had rode into the landing zone in. Leon grabbed Takeda by his combat harness and helped haul him inside the drop ship as it took off.

"Shugo, you ok?" asked Leon. Takeda nodded and paused to catch his breath.

"That was way too close." He muttered.

"We're not out yet Captain." Said Rain, she looked down at her timepiece and spoke again. "We have about another three minutes to get clear before that virus bomb explodes. With any luck and the grace of the God-Emperor we should be in the upper atmosphere by then."

"Acknowledged Lady Inquisitor." Replied Takeda. A voice came over the Guard vox network.

"Captain Takeda? Captain Takeda, are you there?" asked the voice.

"This is Captain Takeda go ahead." He replied.

"Thank the God-Emperor! This is Lieutenant Colonel Minamoto, Captain I thought you were dead." Takeda's eyes widen.

"Lieutenant Colonel, what happened?" Takeda asked.

"Most of the Guard units on the planet got smashed. The Brigade lost almost the entire tank regiment, most of the artillery regiment; so far it looks like we down to about twenty percent total strength in the 1st Landing Regiment and the 1st Infantry Regiment is at about fifty percent total strength. We got slaughtered down there captain. Fleet is going to destroy the planet from orbit in about twelve minutes." He paused for a moment. "Captain, one more thing. Your father is dead along with most of the senior officers.

"Who's in command now?" asked Takeda nervously.

"Colonel Omura of the 3rd Artillery Regiment. One more thing Captain, I have your family's katana with me right now. Once you reach the fleet I'll send it over to you. Minamoto out." Takeda stopped breathing for a moment.

"Roger, Takeda out." He replied as he leaned back in his seat and let out an aggravated sigh. Something had gone terribly wrong. Thousands of Guardsmen and nearly a hundred of Space Marines had been killed in the fighting and it was for nothing. All of it, the entire assault was a total a waste.

"This battle was not a waste, Captain." Said Rain abruptly. "Those men that died, they died doing their duty to the Emperor and the Imperium. Their deaths allowed us to uncover the source of daemonic taint on this planet and destroy that taint." Takeda shook his head and wiped some grime from his face completely ignoring the fact that Rain had used her powers to sense how he felt about the battle. He sat in total silence, his body leaning back against his seat. Sister Eristiel had begun to say prayers for the fallen.

"Divine Emperor, take up the souls of your fallen warriors. May they be safe in your everlasting light." Began the priestess. All of those inside the transport made the sign of the Aquilla and bowed their heads in respect and prayer. One of the vox operators had turn on his vox-set and began broadcasting Sister Eristiel's prayer over the General vox channel. Soon every single one of the Imperial vox-sets was broadcasting her prayer as the entire fleet held a moment of silence for their fallen comrades. The Imperial forces stood in total silence as the priestess's voice faded away. The silence was broken by a single command from the commander of the Imperial fleet, to fire. The Imperial fleet opened up on the planet incinerating it, burning the once green world to ash and wastelands.

"Lady Inquisitor, I request permission to take our wounded to the Amatsu ships before taking you to your personal transport." Asked the drop ship flight leader.

"Of course, take care of your wounded first. I shall have a shuttle sent for me at a later time." Replied Rain.

"You have the thanks of all of us and for the most part our wounded, Lady Inquisitor." Said the flight commander as the drop ships flew onwards towards the fleet.

"And you and your wounded have my thanks commander." Replied Rain sincerely.

"Takeda to all platoon leaders. Give me a casualty report." Slowly reports began to fill in from A Company's units.

"1st Platoon reports six fatalities and eight wounded." Said Sergeant Tomita.

"2nd Platoon reports eight fatalities and ten wounded." Reported Master Sergeant Mitazaki.

"3rd Platoon reports five fatalities and seven wounded." Came Lieutenant Sanada.

"I want the wounded out of the drop ships as soon as possible. I want all platoon and squad leaders to assemble for a debriefing at 1600. Takeda out." The A-22s came in gracefully swinging down onto the deck of the Amatsu transport ship. Quickly the wounded were loaded onto stretchers and taken to the infirmary. As Captain Takeda exited his A-22, he saw that Lieutenant Colonel Minamoto was waiting for him. Takeda saluted the Colonel who imminently returned the salute.

"Captain, I want to extend my sorrow over your father's death to you." Said the Colonel.

"My father died in service to the Emperor and that is all that matters, Lieutenant Colonel." Replied Takeda.

Minamoto held out a katana in an elegant black sheath. "I present to you the Takeda family sword." Takeda took the sword and drew it from its sheath. The ribbed edge glinted in the light. He gave a low and respectful bow to Minamoto.

"Thank you for retrieving this Colonel." Takeda paused and spoke again. "Colonel could you tell me what happened down there?"

"I don't know either Captain. The Orks just swarmed our position as if they appeared from out of the warp." Inquisitor Rain walked up to them and spoke with a polite but commanding presence.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but we must make sure the Captain and his men have not been corrupted by the taint we found on the planet's surface." The two officers acknowledged Rain's command and Minamoto left to finish organizing the surviving Guardsmen. "Right this way Captain." Said Rain as she motioned to a group of Inquisition medical personal as they inspect each soldier for taint and purged their souls of corruption. Once fully cleansed the Amatsu Guardsmen returned to their home unit to help sort through the damage.

Beyond the scope of the surviving Amatsu Guardsmen the entire Imperial Fleet had broken orbit and began to disperse as the Imperial ships began their journey back to their home ports. The losses for the Amatsu forces included high ranking members of the Amatsu nobility such as, Colonel Mitsurugi, General Takeda, Lieutenant Colonel Ito, and Lieutenant Nakamura. The losses of so many high ranking officers shook the Brigade to the core and it was obvious that the Brigade would be going through major reorganization.

Several hours later, Takeda, after being cleansed, sat in the main mess hall, holding a dataslate in his hand as he silently ate a small pack of rations. A Company at full strength numbered a hundred and twenty soldiers but that had been reduced to forty-four combat ready soldiers barely enough to make a combat ready platoon much less a Company. Takeda knew most of the wounded would be ready to fight soon, but the numbers were still grim.

"Well look who it is!" came a loud voice. Takeda looked up from his dataslate and saw Colonel Storm and a number of his men with him.

"Colonel!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I'm surprised to find you on this ship, sir." Storm's mouth formed a grim smile and replied.

"They almost left my men behind but the General and several hundred of his men stayed behind so we could escape. Those poor bastards." He sighed. Takeda stood still for a long minute and then asked.

"Colonel, did the general have the same name as me?" Storm paused for a moment.

"Yes, he did Captain. Why was he a relative of yours or something?"

"My father." Answered Takeda. A voice came over the vox-casters through out the ship.

"Captain Takeda, report to briefing room five please. Repeat, Captain Takeda, please report to briefing room five." Storm patted Takeda on the shoulder.

"I won't keep you, Captain." Takeda and Storm exchanged salutes.

"Yes, sir." He replied and began to make his way to briefing room five.

"Captain, one more thing." Said Storm. "Your father went down fighting. My regiment owes him ours lives. I would like to repay that debt someday."

"I am certain you will be able to one day, Colonel." Replied Takeda as he walks away. Maneuvering his way through the corridors of the massive starship, Takeda moved at a brisk pace. He knew how to reach the briefing room was from any position in the entire ship. Room #5 was the only briefing room still operating well enough to accommodate VIP guests and other important dignitaries. Upon entering he was greeted by Colonel Omura, Lieutenant Colonel Minamoto, and Inquisitor Rain. Takeda snapped to attention and saluted smartly to his superiors.

"Captain Shugo Takeda reports as ordered."

"Thank you for coming so quickly Captain." Began Colonel Omura. "Please take a seat." Takeda sat down, his body upright straight as a board. "Captain, first I would like to extend my sorrow to you for the loss of your father. He was a great officer and died for the glory of the Emperor."

"Colonel, can we get to the real reason why I was called here? I dislike how everyone apologizes to me about my father's death. As you said he died for the Emperor and that is enough for me." asked Takeda his eyes alert and ready for anything. Omura eyes narrowed in fury.

"Captain I know that you have little patience for idle chatter but can you at least be polite?"

"The Captain is quite correct we have little time for idle chatter." interjected Inquisitor Rain.

"Lady Inquisitor?" asked Omura surprised by the interference by this outsider. Rain ignored him and continued speaking.

"Captain it is standard practice for the Inquisition to, liquidate, any units that have been requisitions that we deem corrupted." She paused a long moment, just long enough to send shivers down the Guard officers present and continued. "However such actions would be wasteful, especially with a unit of such excellent soldiers. Sister Eristiel has assured me that you and your men are not tainted and it would not be wise in my opinion to deprive the 1st Amatsu Brigade of another excellent officer. In return for your lives I am giving you and each member of A Company, Inquisition identification tags. These will mark you as warriors of the Inquisition and when I call for aid in the future your men will be among the first to be notified and deployed. Have your men wear them along with their standard issue identification tags." She turned to the other officers in the room. "Gentlemen, I will need the Captain and any units put under his command to help me find the source of the taint we found on the surface. My investigations are far from complete so I will be going to the Amatsu system with you and use it to house my staff and myself while I continue my investigation. I trust you will accommodate me?"

"Of course, Lady Inquisitor." Omura swallowed hard.

"Colonel, may I make a request?" asked Minamoto.

"Go on."

"Sir I request that we promote Captain Takeda to major and combine the remaining companies of the 1st Landing Regiment into a single battalion." Omura stand for a moment.

"Do we even have enough men to make a single battalion?" asked Omura.

"A severely depleted one, sir. Once we return to Amatsu we will need to train about four hundred replacements to create an over-strength battalion capable of performing at least some of the functions the 1st Landing Regiment performed."

"Fine, you may colonel." Omura stood up. "We will perform a more formal and thorough meeting at a later time. Until then, this meeting is adjourned." Omura finished and began to collect his belongings. "Colonel Minamoto I would like to speak with you for a little while longer."

"Yes, sir." Both Takeda and Rain exited the briefing room.

"Colonel I want you to know that I despise the tactics used by the 1st Landing Regiment. It is my firm belief that it was those reckless tactics that left us with so many casualties. Now General Takeda might have endorsed your wild antics but I do not, the Landing Regiment will not be reinforced back up to full regimental strength but be kept at the level you've requested. I will not lose men on tactics that have a tendency of wasting lives, do you understand me Colonel?"

"Perfectly sir!" replied Minamoto. "Ignorant asshole" he thought. "An arrogant artillery officer with little knowledge on how best to deploy the infantry based on the use of unique skills and tactics has no right to tell him that the Landing Regiment was a waste." Yet despite these thoughts not a single hint of discontent appeared on Minamoto's face. Omura scrutinized Minamoto for a moment before finally saying.

"Dismissed Colonel." Minamoto saluted and turned and left the briefing room. Once Minamoto was outside Takeda greet him.

"Colonel, what did Omura want from you?" asked the newly promoted major. Minamoto scowled in response and replied.

"Arrogant bastard. He is disbanding the Landing Regiment, claming that the tactics we use waste lives. Like the idiot knows better! All he has seen of war if what he can see through a tactical display!" Minamoto clenched his fists and stormed off angrily. Takeda punched the wall nearest to him and stormed off in the opposite direction. As angry as he was for all the trauma and death that his men today faced and the painful reorganization and training that will follow he had to carry out his orders. As he marched down the hallways he passed Inquisitor Rain, as they passed each other she whispered some of the most dreaded words any Imperial officer could hear.

"Today we faced Chaos triumphant, Major." She paused for a moment as he nodded to her and continued down the hallway and continued even more quietly as he began to go out of earshot. "Next time we'll make them pay, I swear it."

0526 St. Patrick's Sanctuary Penal World, two months later

"Wake up Hamura!" shouted a guard as he prodded Kenji Hamura Inmate #165474 with a shock baton. "Get up shithead! You just have been given your chance to earn the Emperor's Forgiveness for your sins." Hamura groaned in response and slowly began to sit up.

"Hey, that fucking hurts." Murmured Hamura. The guard swung his baton at Hamura again. Hamura leaned back and let the baton slide over his head and rolled out of his bunk. Glaring at the guard he spoke again. "Learned to use that, fucking idiot." The guard backed off and stood outside the cell door angrily waiting for Hamura. As he was escorted out and down the hall he saw a good number of his fellow inmates being marched in the same direction as him, the landing pads. As he and over a hundred other inmates reached the landing pads they saw a large Imperial Guard dropship before them and on a raised platform in front of the Prison parade ground several men in the black uniforms of the Commissariat and several in green woodland camouflage uniforms Hamura recognized. Looking quickly from side to side, he realized that all of the inmates gathered were from the same system, Amatsu.

"Atten-hut!" shouted a Commissariat officer with a vox unit and all of the inmates stood as ridged as boards, trained not only from the compulsory service in the Amatsu Defense Force but also from the harsh batons of the guards. "Scum of Amatsu! Give your attention to Major Takeda, for it is through him that you will earn the Emperor's Forgiveness!" Stepping aside Major Takeda took the vox unit from him and began to speak.

"Good morning, I am Major Shugo Takeda of the Imperial Guard! When you were sentenced here you were told you would be given a chance to earn a pardon for your crimes though service in the Emperor's Penal Legions! However a need in Amatsu has arisen and the Guard needs men to fill the vacant ranks. In return for your five-year term of service you will receive a full pardon, receive full pay at the rank you will hold in addition to a bonus worth three months pay, and have your pervious crimes erased. This chance will only be offered only once and if you refuse it then you will be drafted into a penal legion and you will die for the glory of the Imperium. That is all." Takeda stepped down from the platform as Amatsu Guardsmen surrounded the inmates and the prison guards returned to their duties. One by one and in groups each inmate stepped forward and was loaded onto the dropship and strapped into restraints.

"Are you sure that you know what you are doing Major?" ask the newly promoted Captain Sanada. Takeda looked at the new captain and replied.

"We need all the men we can get right now in order to get the regiment up and running. If we take any more men from the 1st Airborne Brigade or the 15th Orbital Assault Regiment then we risk destabilizing those units. Emperor only knows how many men we got from those units already and the other elite units of the Defense Force." Sanada nodded solemnly and spoke again.

"Well it seems like we have our work cut out for us sir." Takeda nodded and replied with a confidence beyond his years.

"We'll whip them into shape and turn them into one of the best units ever to have the honor of wearing an Amatsu Guard uniform."


	6. Ch 5: Takeda’s Gambit

Chapter 5:Takeda's Gambit

0600 Parade Grounds, Camp Sekinin, Fortress world of Kenjou, two weeks later

Five hundred Special Landing Battalion hopefuls stood in massed ranks on the parade grounds of Camp Sekinin; the home base of the former 1st Landing Regiment and currently used to house both the newly formed Special Landing Battalion and the Ordo Malleus investigation. Each recruit had been selected for his or her record and skills. There would be three hundred fifty spots available and the competition for these spots would be fierce. It was the first day of their training into the elite infantry unit of the Amatsu Brigade. Induction began with a full inspection and they stood in full battle kit ready for Major Takeda's inspection.

Takeda walked slowly down the assembled ranks of his men both Guardsmen and trainees. Dressed in his standard combat kit, his power katana and plasma pistol hung from his combat harness as normal, but this time they were companied by two different weapons he almost never carried, his Kempetai issue laspistol and a whip. He studied each man carefully and nodded approvingly to each Guardsman who passed his scrutinizing vision. He stopped suddenly and looked at one of the recruits that had been selected from the 1st Airborne Brigade, his rank pins showed he was a private.

"What the hell is this?" he asked pointing to a non-standard issue knife and lasgun sling.

"A Tanmith warknife and Valhallan issue sling, sir." Replied the private. Takeda nodded.

"Hand me your lasgun private." The recruit checked the safety and action and passed the weapon to Takeda who did the same. "Private, how do you expect your lasgun to work at optimal conditions with the focusing lens so filthy?"

"I don't know sir."

"Well fix it!" replied Takeda as he threw the recruit back his weapon forcefully. Continuing down the line, he stopped in front of another recruit and looked him over. The man was one of the convict recruits. The rank pins on his uniform were those of a corporal. At his hip was an autopistol and a long combat knife was strapped to his leg. "Corporal, your sidearm." The corporal slid the pistol out of its holster with ease and handed it to Takeda. "What model is this?"

"A Yamamoto Armories Type 76 autopistol in 10mm, sir." Replied the corporal. Takeda nodded and slide the slide back and inspected in the inside of the weapon and handed it back.

"Your knife next." The corporal drew the knife slowly and reluctantly passed the blade over to Takeda. Takeda held it in his hand feeling the weight and balance. That blade was almost as long as a short sword and had a wicked looking serrated edge. He passed it back to the corporal who quickly returned it to the sheath and just as he turned to walk away Takeda backhanded the corporal in the face knocking him to the ground. As the corporal languished in agony Takeda ripped off his rank insignia. "If you bring personal weapons keep them clean, private." He then continued down the line while his subordinates brought the newly demoted private a set of private insignia and checked for serious injuries.

By the end of the inspection had demoted several more recruits and several sported injuries from Takeda's harsh discipline. They had not even begun proper training and many had already begun curse their new commanding officer and his techniques. After the inspection they went on a three-kilometer march, graining about three hundred meters of elevation in total at a grueling pace. In full combat gear many struggled to move at the pace they were being forced to march at. Once at the top, the battalion was given fifteen minutes for breakfast and once those fifteen minutes were up they were ordered to march all the way back down while maintaining a close formation. This followed other brutal physical training sessions until it time for the midday meal. Exhausted, the recruits were herded into the mess hall.

"Attention recruits!" shouted Takeda as the massed ranks of men prepared to eat their meal. "Today's march and inspection was an evaluation of yourselves and how determined you are to be in this unit. We already had a number of recruits drop out. Now I don't care what unit you were in before you came here. You could be from the 1st Civil Defense Regiment or be a convict trooper. I don't give a damn about where you came from but if you don't push yourselves, I will see to it that I never see your face again. Enjoy your food soldiers; you're going to need it."

From that point on, the training got rougher and rougher. Everyday, they had a series of physical drills followed by lessons and practice on tactics, teamwork, camouflage, field craft, navigation, marksmanship, close combat techniques, and survival techniques; afterwards they were drilled on techniques such as gav-chuting, air assault operations, guerrilla warfare, urban warfare, and scouting techniques. Over the course of almost five months the training had whittled the five hundred recruits to a hardcore group numbering the three hundred and fifty Takeda needed. As Rain's investigations drew her closer and closer to their foe, Takeda decided it was time to fully induct the recruits into the Battalion. Takeda gathered all of the recruits for a morning inspection.

"Soldiers! Over the past months we have trained and drilled you in a variety of skill and techniques. Now it is time that we take those skills we have taught you and hone it into the Emperor's divine wind! For the next several days we will be conducting war games with the ADF's 12th Brigade, and the our guests from the 1st Sylmarin Congratulations, you've past my challenges and become true Guardsmen worth of service in the Special Landing Battalion, that is all."

Corporal Iko Kasahara gave a broad smile as her and the assembled Battalion saluted Takeda as he left them in formation. She had made it; despite all the odds she had passed the challenges. Kasahara was one of the few female members of the elite 1st Civil Defense Regiment, the Amatsu Defense Force's elite counter-insurgency and urban warfare unit. Kasahara turned and whispered to one of her squad mates; who counted as one of the new friends she had made in the battalion, Corporal Kenji Hamura.

"We made it." He nodded and replied.

"That we did." Hamura was almost the anti-thesis of Kasahara, more then the fact that she was a young woman while he was an older man. She was of common birth while Hamura was from a minor noble family. Where Kasahara was the ideal image of the noble fighting women of Amatsu; Hamura exemplified the dark underside of the system and the complex clans of gangs that went with it. Kasahara was a crack shot while Hamura has ripped his way through a fully armed and armored Arbite team on at least one occasion. Yet despite their differences, they had been assigned to the same squad and had got along quite well, becoming close friends. "Hey Kasahara, what do your parents think about all this? You know, joining the Guard to serve as a career officer in the ADF?"

"They've already disowned me once I joined the 1st Civil. To them no Emperor fearing daughter of theirs would join the ADF as a infantrywoman much less join the 1st Civil." She paused for a moment and then asked. "Hamura, what did your family think when they found out you were arrested for killing three arbites?"

"They weren't surprised, they knew what I was, but they didn't care they already had disowned me once they found out I was consorting with 'low-born' thugs. Like I care what they think anyways!" Kasahara nodded and shrewdly changed the subject.

"Do you think we'll do well against the other units?"

"Of course we will it's just a matter of your definition of well. We would lose well, we could win by a long shot, or we could dominate the battle and win by a landslide. We'll just have to wait and see."

"Quiet in the ranks!" shouted a Kempetai officer. "Today we will be issuing you all training weapons and ammunition for the exercises. After weapons are issued you will report to the supply depot and there you will be issued your kit, including your bedrolls, rations, the sensors for the training weapons, etcetera. From there some of you will be reassigned to other units dictated by Major Takeda, himself. After reassignments are completed we will board our A-22s and deploy to our LZs. Briefings and announcements will be conducting in mid-flight. Dismissed!"

As soon as the last word left the Kempei's mouth the battalion jumped into action as both new blood and grizzled veterans began to race around the base grabbing weapons, ammo, rations, comm. systems, navigation supplies, armor, and other equipment. Quickly the battalion had gathered the weapons and supplies they would need to conduct the war game. They stood in formation as platoon leaders began to redirect the members of their platoon who had been reassigned and introducing the new members. Much to everyone's surprise, the word came down for Kasahara to be selected to serve as Major Takeda's vox operator.

"Lieutenant?" she asked her voice wavering from shock. "Am I hearing this correctly, sir?"

"Yes, you are Kasahara. Now get your ass over to the major." Kasahara saluted.

"Yes, sir!" Grabbing her gear and she sprinted down to A Company. She reached Takeda just as they began to load up their A-22. Before she even had a chance to say anything Takeda had already noticed her.

"Corporal Kasahara?" asked Takeda as he slowly turned around to face the corporal. So stunned in being recognized by such a highly decorated officer it took Kasahara a moment before she snapped to attention and saluted.

"Kasahara reports as ordered sir." Takeda nodded.

"Get aboard, we're starting to lag behind schedule."

"Yes, sir!" She quickly stowed her gear and began to make adjustments her vox unit.

"So you're the new vox operator for the major?" asked corporal, formerly private, Shin Saigo. Kasahara looked up at him and nodded slowly.

"Corporal Iko Kasahra, sir." Saigo looked at her for a moment and started to laugh. "Sir?"

"I'm Corporal Shin Saigo, Kasahara. I'm a corporal Kasahara you don't need to sir me."

"Oh." Kasahara's mouth spread into a wide grin and soon both of them broke out into laughter.

"What's so funny corporals?" asked Takeda as he climbed aboard. Both ceased their laughter and saluted.

"Nothing sir!" they shouted in unison.

"Good, I want this exercise taken as seriously as possible. Now strap yourselves in and sit tight. Do you get me?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The pair of corporals responded. Soon the entire Battalion was airborne.

"Kasahara get me on the Battalion channel. It's time I briefed everyone on our objectives."

"Yes sir!" She paused for a moment and then handed Takeda the vox horn.

"This is Alpha One to all units. Sound off!" shouted Takeda over the network. At his order all of the company commanders from Alpha Two down to Hotel Three sounded off. "Good everyone is here. Ok people today we're teaming up the Sylmarins, the objective is to take out Colonel Hiiro Ueda of the 85th Infantry Regiment, for this exercise. Colonel Ueda will be the acting commander of the 12th Brigade and we are going up against the entire Brigade. I expect you all to do your job and earn the victory you all deserve."

Just over seventy-two hours later they did claim victory over Ueda and his men. Once both forces had been deployed the better part of the first day the fighting had been back and forth as Colonel Ueda used his superior numbers to try to push a gap in the Sylmarin lines only to loose an entire battalion in an ambush lead by Major Takeda and the Special Landing Battalion. The second day saw the 12th Brigade facing a flanking attack from the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the 1st Sylmar Partisan Rangers. Ueda quickly moved the 9th Reserve Regiment to stop the Sylmarin advance only to have them surrounded and destroyed by the Sylmarins paving the way for Major Takeda to use his air transports to insert his forces behind Colonel Ueda's lines and besiege the 12th Brigade's command post.

"Damn that Takeda!" shouted Colonel Ueda as he slammed his fist into a wall. "Tell the 67th and the 85th to send a relief force to drive back Takeda's force before we are overrun." He ordered furiously.

"Yes, sir!" replied an aide

Ueda looked at the map laid out on a table as he struggled to find a way to deal with the siege. It was just over three hours ago he was confident victory would be his until he received word that the 9th Regiment had been destroyed and shortly after that Takeda's rabble had launched an attack under the cover of darkness with infiltrator teams that had bombed several barracks knocking out their occupants, taken out a number of guards, and disabled a good number of his heavy weapons. It was through sheer luck and determination that the infiltrator teams had been repulsed and Takeda's main attack halted. However, Ueda's position was now facing almost constant sniper, mortar, and heavy weapon attacks. Ueda knew that he could not hold position for much longer without support.

Slowly Takeda crawled forward as weapons fire flew above him. Ueda's men had been completely distracted by the fear of sniper and mortar attacks that most of the sentries where at the bottom their defensive positions not even looking for attackers. All of Ueda's moves had been sloppy and played into both the battalion's and Sylmarin's specialties.

"Alpha One to all India units wait for my signal." He paused for a moment and drew a knife. "Move in quietly." He crawled up to the first heavy stubber position and along with his squad, tagged out the crew. The squad of men behind him quickly took up positions around the gun and taking the weapon for their own use. Within seconds the first line of defenses had been taken and the rest of the defenders were similarly unaware of the attackers.

"All units report in position major." Whispered Kasahara.

"Good. Tell them to fire on my command."

"Yes, sir." Takeda quietly led the units with him forward. Slowly scanning the placement of Ueda's men he cursed silently.

"Damn it." Muttered Takeda. "Alpha One to all units. Cannot advance any further, too many guards. All units go loud on my mark." As the last word left his mouth he lifted his carbine up and prepared to fire on the guards. "Mark." All around him weapons opened up and cut down Ueda's men left and right. Many of Ueda's men rushed out into the open to repel an attack that had already breached their defensives. Caught out in the open many of them were gun down before they could even react "Charge them now!" Shouted Takeda.

At his command his men charged forward using blunt force, smashed their way past the panicked defenders and stormed Ueda's command post. Ueda and his staff tried to hold back Takeda's men, but in the close quarters of the command post the bayonets of the Amatsu Brigade defeated the bare fists, knives, and pistols of the staff. The fighting was fast paced and chaotic. One of the vox operators screamed as he was clubbed in the gut by a lasgun tagging him out. Ueda's Kempei officer was a storm of slashes as he knocked attacking Guardsmen aside trying to hold back the tide, only to have his katana knocked aside and tagged out by about ten bayonets. In the end, only Ueda was the only defender left standing out of the staff in the room.

"So Colonel Ueda will I have your surrender now?" asked Takeda, pistol leveled at Ueda's head.

"Screw you!" shouted Ueda and he charged.

"Kasahara shoot him!" Takeda ordered. Kasahara aimed and fired once and the round smacked Ueda in the face tagging him out. "Good shot, now lets clean up and move out."

"Yes, sir!" chorused the men around him.

Once they had debriefed and packed up all the equipment the Battalion was shipped to Amatsu on leave. In the eyes of many of the senior officers of the Amatsu Brigade Takeda's gambit of recruiting the best soldiers he could get his hands regardless of who they were, albeit there were recruits with questionable records, had worked. In return to their well-executed victory over Colonel Ueda, Colonel Minamoto had given the Battalion a weeklong leave in the capital of the Amatsu System, Shuto. However the generosity of Colonel Minamoto had a more sinister purpose, Inquisitors Rain and Leon had called a meeting with Brigade senior officers about their next move.

1926 Shuto, Amatsu, three days later

Takeda straighten his uniform a bit and looked around him. He had gathered his most senior officer and advisors to come with him to the meeting among them was the new Lieutenant Hyori, commander of the Battalion's scouts, Kempei-Major Toshiro Shimizu, commander of the Kempei officers assigned to look after the former penal troopers, and Captain Taro Ishida, second in command of the battalion and commander of D company. He looked down at this timepiece and seeing the time he realized that if they did not leave soon they would be late for the meeting.

"Everyone ready?" he asked.

"Ready sir." Replied Ishida.

"Good, lets go. We can't keep an Inquisitor waiting, now can we?" He was met by a few chuckles from his comrades and prepared to step out of the room. Takeda flanked by his officers stepped out and into a large ballroom. Takeda sighed as the lights and sounds of the room made their assault on his senses. Rain's paranoia about spies led her to convince General Omura to throw a large gathering of both top military brass and top politicians, businessmen, celebrities, and other VIPs in order to disguise their discussion. Disguised as trading partners of Captain Jack Aguilar who were looking to start up a new trade agreement with the local businesses they had readily infiltrated Amatsu high society and were invited to attend this party. As Takeda pressed deeper into this thong of people he smiled and greet the ones he knew while keeping a sharp eye out for Rain. In the end, he literally ran into her.

"Excuse me ma'am." Stammered Takeda as his eyes widen at the women in front of him. Rain had wisely chosen to wear clothing of more traditional Amatsu influence in order to blend in better. The design was red and white with flower embroidered along the length of the clothing and it looked stunning on her.

"It's quite alright good sir," Rain paused just long enough to give the impression to any on lookers that she was indeed an outsider. "Major, it was all my fault I should have been more careful."

"No the fault is mine my lady. In fact I feel so upset about bumping into you so rudely… I feel that I must ask you to have a dance with me." Takeda held out his hand and Rain smiled took it.

"Well if you insist Major." Replied Rain.

"I am Major Shugo Takeda of the Special Landing Battalion, 1st Amatsu Infantry Regiment." Replied Takeda and gave a respectful bow.

"I am Rain LeBeau of the Hammer Trading Company." Said Rain, who in returned curtsied.

"Now that the introductions are done shall we dance?" asked Takeda. Rain smiled again.

"Of course." Takeda lead Rain out onto the dance floor and the two danced for several minutes. "Now since we are fully acquainted I would like to invite you and a few of your friends to join us at our table."

"Gladly Lady Rain." Takeda quickly gathered his officers and they took their seats at the Inquisition table, shortly after General Omura joined them. After each of the major players had been seated and glasses of alcohol passed around, the officers and Inquisitors move on to the business.

"Now that everyone is here let's get this started." Began Rain. "I have good news and bad news for everyone. The good news is that we found the source of the Chaos artifact that tainted the Orks on Oron. The bad news is that the steps in order to neutralize the threat are going to be complicated."

"What do you mean my lady?" asked General Omura.

"The artifact came from the planet of Faralon III. The problem is that Faralon is in actuality an Imperial world, to be more precise, a feudal world; they barely have access to gunpowder weapons and rely on mounted cavalry for the most part. The ruling body is a confederation of kingdoms that often is forced to deal with splinter groups. In fact, the highest ranked Imperial authority is the Ecclesiarchy cardinal. Just over a year ago, he sent out a distress signal claim the word was under attack by heretical force on the planet and that Imperial Guard forces be mobilized to destroy them. Well a task force of Cadians was organized and departed just two months ago." Rain paused for a moment as the confused looks of many of the Guard officers looked back at her. She quickly continued. "Now despite this, what ever force that is powerful enough to take over those Orks on Oron, powerful enough to send a Chaos artifact to Oron, and strong enough to ignite a full scale war on Faralon, then I'm going to need more then just three regiments of mostly green Cadians to back me up. That's where you come in, I need you to mobilize the Brigade and get me over to that planet. My Navigator has assured me that we will get to Faralon around the Cadian Task Force arrives if we leave in the next two weeks. Am I clear?"

"The Amatsu Brigade will do its best my lady. We shall not fail you." Answered General Omura.

"Good. When can you be ready?" asked Leon.

"We'll be all set to go in about a week if we start planning tonight." Replied Omura.  
"Well then, if that's so then go." Ordered Rain coldly and smirked as Omura almost fell in his rush to begin the mobilization.

"Yuki, Ishida, Toshiro go with him and get ready to move the Battalion out." Asked Takeda in a quiet and polite manner.

"Yes sir." Replied the three and stood up to leave.

"Well Rain looks like you figured it all out." Spoke Takeda as the officers and Leon left the table and then held out his hand. "Since we're the last ones here we might as well enjoy the party."

"Of course my dear Shugo." Said Rain, as she took Shugo's hand and let him lead her out onto the dance floor. "Now, I do not have all of the pieces to the puzzle, heck we still don't have an objective or motive. I have asked a favor of some friends, there is a system near here has recently begun to advance their technology. My friends have managed to convince this system to supply our expedition with a supply of bolt-action rifles with a full supply of ammunition worth at least a campaign, as well three regiments of men and a group of instructors to train the native armies." continued Rain.

"What sort of training?" asked Shugo.

"What they will be teaching the people of Faralon are the standard close order drills, volley fire, skirmish lines, bayonet drills, etc. All the basic techniques that a feudal world with its regimented military forces could understand and appreciate, though I am worried that the more modern tactics will offend them with your use of camouflage, artillery, vehicles, and guns." Rain paused for a moment. "Major I think it is time that we take this conversation somewhere else."

"Where else would you like to go my lady?" asked Takeda.

"Well, I have heard stories of your family's estate. It's the estate few miles outside of the capital, so I have heard. I would appreciate if you showed it to me." Takeda smiled and replied.

"Of course, it would honor to us greatly for you to be a guest at our estate. Please, why don't you just spend the night as well? We can have more conversations over a fine bottle of sake or amasec if you prefer that."

"I would prefer sake, that is, if you don't mind of course." Replied Rain warmly.

"I don't mind, in fact I think I might just open up one of the better bottles we have in celebrations for this honor."

"You honor me greatly, major. Now are we going to stand here for the rest of the night or are you going to show me your famed estate?" asked Rain reticently.

"Of course I will show you the estate. Follow me to my car Lady Inquisitor." It took the pair several minutes to reach Takeda's car and they set out on their trip out of the city and into the countryside. After several awkward moments of silence Takeda spoke again. "You're lucky Rain, you just ended up here in time to see the cherry blossoms."

"I see but I really am not…" Rains voice trailed off as they rounded a bend in the road and before her was a field of cherry trees, all of them in full bloom. "Shugo, this is just amazing."

"If you think this is amazing then I wonder what you'll say about the estate." He took a long breath and spoke again. "Its funny most off-worlders don't come here seeking the beauty that we have yet it is the one thing that stays with them the most."

"This is probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen." Began Rain but Shugo quickly cut her off.

"You haven't seen anything yet Rain." As he finished they turned and passed through a large gate and into a cherry orchard. Shugo stopped the car and stepped out then turned to help Rain out. "Come with me. We'll have to walk from here on in." Together they walked though the rows of cherry trees. Once they had finished touring the grounds the two went into Takeda's private chambers and were having a very animated chat over a bottle of fine sake.

The next morning Rain awoke in the guest room. After a few moments her head had cleared and she observed her surroundings. It was a richly decorated room in the traditional Amatsu style and was a sharp contrast to the more Spartan private chambers that Takeda had entertained her in.

"So this must be the guest room." Muttered Rain. She adjusted her clothing and saw that the Takeda servants had left her a fresh set of cloths in the traditional Amatsu style. She quickly changed into the fresh garment and set out in search for her host. Rain did not have to look long as she quickly found him in the training room. Takeda moved swiftly trading blow after blow with a training dummy. After several minutes of intense dueling, Takeda turned off the dummy and sheathed his sword. He turned and bowed towards the Inquisitor.

"Good morning my lady." Said Takeda.

"Good morning major." Replied the Inquisitor. "It's good to see you up early for practice."

"I expect a lot of battles will be won through hand to hand combat on Faralon. I want to prepare myself accordingly."

"You train hard Major."

"Thank you for the complement, Rain. I hope that the campaign on Faralon will infuse some spirit into the Brigade. The battle on Oron pretty much knocked the spirit out of us." As Takeda spoke he moved around the training room placing everything back where it should be.

"Hopefully we won't be faced with too many enemies that are capable of defeating us. But, still, what worries me is that the enemy that we faced on Oron came from Faralon, and obviously that the enemy on Faralon came from somewhere else. I see a hard fought campaign ahead of us."

"I pray to the God-Emperor that you are wrong."


	7. Ch 6: Over the hills and far away

Chapter 6: Over the Hills and Far Away

1000 Shuto, Amatsu Two Weeks later

The 1st Amatsu Brigade and the 1st Sylmar Partisan Rangers marched through the streets of Shuto, their heads held high. Thousands of civilians had lined the streets to see their brothers, their fathers, and their sons go off to war once more. The hollow victory at Oron was beginning to fade away into distant memory, as the Brigade had been invigorated by a flood of fresh recruits, all of them eager to earn their share of honor and glory in service to the Emperor. Imperial and Amatsu flags fluttered in the breeze as patriotic citizens waved banners inscribed with patriotic slogans and wishes of good fortune in the battles ahead.

The Sylmarins stared in awe at this display of patriotism, never before had they see this much fanfare given to an army going off to war. All around the city, citizens shouted to the Guardsmen encouraging them to do their duty and to have no fear. Cries of "Banzai to the Emperor!" rang out as citizens cheered on the Guardsmen. Slowly but surely the Amatsu Brigade and their attached units made their way through this fanfare and were loaded onto transports.

In orbit Rain looked out of a view port on the ship The Lone Voyager. The orbiting dock above Amatsu was bursting with activity. Thousands of small transport and cargo craft shuttled personnel and supplies up from the surface to the Imperial Navy ships in the Amatsu Task Force. The sight of the Amatsu Naval Task Force was glorious as the pride of the Imperial Navy's Amatsu units were massed to do battle with the enemy of the Emperor one more time.

0906 Imperial Battleship ship Divine Wind one month later

It had been almost five weeks since the Amatsu Naval battle group set out from its homeport. They had reached Faralon several days ahead of schedule and they had rendezvous with a small Inquisition Force led by Inquisitor Alan Kimble, who had come on his own to investigate the heretic insurrection on Faralon, the 312th Cadian Expeditionary Force and the Soldat Expeditionary Force and plans for the campaign to come were forming quickly. Rain's comment about the experience of the Cadian units was not completely true as their commander, General George Hammond, was an experienced leader and Colonel Jack O'Neill, the commander of the 234th Cadian Special Operation Regiment, was a battle harden leader who was expected to be promoted to general after the campaign on Faralon had subsided. In addition to those skilled senior officers the men of the 234th were all battle harden combat veterans. However, the two other regiments and various support units attached to the 312th were green units that were newly raised.

What in fact troubled the Amatsu soldiers most was not the Cadians. They might be mostly green but they were a modern army with modern weapons. But the Soldatans were primarily armed with obsolete bolt-action rifles and had few heavy and special weapons beyond an outdated grenade launcher model. Moreover it was an amateur army not a single soldier or officer in the Soldat Expeditionary Force has ever fought in a battle larger then a small skirmish.

Once they had finished the rendezvous and moved to orbit the planet Inquisitor Rain called a meeting of the military officers. Attending were Inquisitors Von Morris, Alan Kimble, and Vlinstad, General Omura, Colonel Minamoto, Major Takeda, Colonel Tanaka commander of the 4th Amatsu Armored Regiment, Colonel Storm, Colonel D'Aoust commander of the Soldat Expeditionary Force, Admiral Yamamoto, General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill, and Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sharpe.

"Gentlemen we need a plan of action for the battles to come. I want a strong opening move that will keep our true strength hidden until the enemy is at his weakest. I want our opening move to be flexible enough to so we can project overwhelming force against these heretics where ever we want." Stated Rain. She paused for a moment. "I also want a force to go with me behind enemy lines for long range reconnaissance."

"What unit do you have in mind Lady Inquisitor?" asked General Hammond.

"The Amatsu 1st Special Landing Battalion under Major Takeda and the Cadian 234th Special Operations Regiment under Colonel O'Neill." Replied Rain. "I would also like Inquisitors Von Morris and Kimble to begin their own investigations from the capital city."

"Your will shall be done, Lady Inquisitor." Replied Inquisitor Von Morris.

"Nothing shall escape the eyes of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition." Replied Inquisitor Kimble enthusiastically.

"Lady Inquisitor who shall be the commander of the Guard forces on the ground?" asked Colonel D'Aoust.

"General Hammond will be in command. He is senior to all of the other officers and has more experience commanding large formation such as these." Answered General Omura. D'Aoust nodded quietly in response. "Lady Inquisitor, I have a suggestion I would like to make regarding our plan of action." Before anyone could answer an aide rushed into the briefing room.

"Sirs!" he shouted. "We have an emergency distress call coming from the surface. The call is coming from the Ecclesiarchy cardinal on the surface. He says there's been an insurrection in the capital. He's hold up with something called the Ecclesiarchy Guard, the Royal Life Company, and the local queen in the capital cathedral. He says they won't be able to hold out for much longer."

"Colonel D'Aoust prepare your men for battle!" ordered General Hammond.

"Sir?" asked D'Aoust.

"The Inquisitor wanted a strong opening move that won't give away our true strength. Your men have the firepower and numbers to protected the local monarch and defeat the rebel forces and besides they need a good battle to blood them for the battles ahead. Do you understand?" Replied Hammond.

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed Colonel." D'Aoust saluted and turned and left the briefing room trailing behind him was his second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe. They watched the red uniformed officers leave. General Hammond then turned and began to give more orders. "Colonel O'Neill, Major Takeda I want your men ready to insert by tonight."

"Insert where General?" asked Major Takeda.

"Here, Major." Spoke Rain as she pointed towards a holographic map of the planet. "This is the province of Norting Wind. The capital of the heretic forces is situated there and from what we understand the source of the corruption that plagues these lands. If we can find the source of the corruption, then we can cut the head off this insurrection."

"Lady Inquisitor, that province is far north. The conditions there are going to be very rugged. Right now it's the warm season, but soon the weather is going to get cold, very cold. Do we have the right equipment to handle artic conditions?" asked Colonel O'Neill.

"The Special Landing Battalion has brought Artic equipment. We have enough extra supplies to supply your regiment." Answered Takeda.

"Good. I'll have my regiment ready to go." O'Neill turned to General Hammond. "General, permission to prepare my regiment for action."

"Granted. Colonel. Major Takeda, prepare your men as well. I want your men to insert when we drop D'Aoust and his lot into the capital."

"Yes, sir." Replied the two officers and they saluted and turned to leave the briefing room. Just before Takeda and O'Neill left General Omura spoke up.

"Major, take the sentinels units with you." Takeda turned around.

"Thank you general." Replied Takeda and saluted

"Well looks like our opening has just been made." Muttered Minamoto. "General, I suggest we adjourn for now."

"Suggestion noted Colonel. We will adjourn for now. We'll meet back here at 1000 tomorrow. Dismissed gentlemen." The remaining officers quickly scattered across the ship. Some returning to their quarters, others returned to other ships in the task force. Takeda after quickly meeting with several of his officers to arrange the artic supplies that the Cadians need decided to pay an old friend a visit.

Takeda made his way to the pilot barracks and went up to a particular bunk. In that bunk laid an Imperial Navy pilot asleep, snoring softly. Takeda grinned devilishly and kicked the bunk.

"Get up flyboy! Its not even noon yet and you're asleep! Get up!" shouted Takeda. The pilot groaned and Takeda kicked the bunk again.

"Shugo, what the hell are you doing?" asked the pilot.

"Waking you up Toshizou."

"I'm still resting after what we did yesterday." Muttered Lieutenant Toshizou Okabe.

"What? Drink sake until we fell over at like 1800? If you had a hang over it would be gone by now. Get we're going to do some sparing."

"We spar almost every other day Shugo, can't you think of something that you aren't good at to do?" asked Okabe.

"Not when I'm going planetside in a few hours. Need to brush up on my hand-to-hand skills a bit more."

"My ass." Muttered Okabe. Sometime later Okabe landed with a thud on the practice mat.

"Get up flyboy, we're not done yet!" ordered Takeda. Okabe groaned.

"No more Shugo. I'm done for the day." Takeda grinned and held out his hand.

"You're so lazy Toshizou."

"Whatever." Replied Okabe as he grabbed Takeda's hand and hauled himself to his feet. "I'm a pilot not a ground pounder."

"Doesn't mean you can't keep yourself in shape."

"Shut up." The two officers grinned. Suddenly Takeda's face fell as he went into deep thought.

"How long has it been?" asked Takeda.

"How long has it been since what?"

"Since we met at Shirohoshi. It must be what? Twenty or so years?" Okabe paused.

"Fifteen. It's been fifteen years since we were just boys at the Shirohoshi Academy huh?" Okabe laughed. "To be young and foolhardy again. We're old men now Shugo."

"Shut up! We're not that old, besides who are you to talk I out rank you." Replied Takeda, a wide grin spread across his face.

"You got that promotion because that Inquisitor has the hots for you." Countered Okabe. Takeda grew red in the face and scrunched up his eyebrows.

"That's not true. I got my promotion because of my dedicated service."

"I'm joking. You take everything so seriously Shugo, ever since we were boys you were the serious one."

"Whatever." Takeda paused and then spoke again slowly. "We're going behind enemy lines this round. Supposed to be an extended long-range recon and Intel gathering op with the Inquisitor." Okabe nodded and began to scratch the back of his head.

"Yeah I know." Okabe look down at his timepiece and frowned. "Crap, I should be going."

"Same here." Takeda sighed. "The operation begins in a few hours, I should probably get some rest."

"Good luck down there." Okabe spoke his eyes blazing with a determination that always shined through his laidback personality "I swear to you that any threat from space won't get past me. As long as I draw breath, I'll keep you and your men cover from up here."

"My ass you'll cover us! We're fighting half feral heretics not renegades!" replied Takeda. "The thoughts are appreciated though. I'll see you when we get back." The two old comrades departed to fight another battle in the name of the Emperor.

"Banzai to the Emperor!" shouted Okabe.

"Banzai!" replied Takeda.

Four Hours Later

"Colonel, all units have been loaded on the dropships, sir." Reported Major Jean Chevalier, the commander of the 3rd Soldat Expeditionary Regiment.

"Good, we better get going then." Replied D'Aoust.

"Yes, sir" Chevalier paused a moment. "Sir, when I asked you where we were going and you replied 'over the hills and far away' I didn't think it would be this far." D'Aoust laughed and replied.

"Major, when I recruited you I didn't think it would be this far either. Come on lets get this done."

"Yes, sir." The two officers quickly boarded one of the dropships and strapped themselves in. Inside were rows upon rows of their men; each wore a dark crimson uniform with a gold colored breastplate, a cream colored hat, with brown leather bandoliers strapped across their chests, and two cartridge boxes attached to their belts. The dropships began to rattle as they moved into launch position. The dropships launched without delay as D'Aoust and his men began their dissent to the surface.

"Colonel, where do you want me to land?" asked the pilot.

"In the courtyard of the cathedral."

"Say again, sir?" asked the pilot

"Get my men into that courtyard!" shouted D'Aoust.

"Yes, sir." Replied the pilot. Within minutes the dropships had landed in the courtyard much to the amazement of the local population. D'Aoust and his men came charging out, bayonets fixed, while D'Aoust and his cavalrymen mounted their horses and drew their revolvers.

"I am Colonel Richard D'Aoust, the commander of the Soldat Expeditionary Force and a representative of His Imperial Majesty, the God-Emperor of Mankind. I have come by the order of the Emperor's Most Holy Inquisition to protect this cathedral."

"I am Sir Seiryn of Her Royal Majesty Lady Kyr's Royal Guard!" shouted one of the locals, a man in majestic silver armor. "I am the Lady's representative for the time being as she is preoccupied with the defense of this position."

"Sir Seiryn! If you would be so kind as to escort myself to the lady, with her permission I would like to deploy my men against the enemy that plagues you." D'Aoust slowly moves his horse forward towards Seiryn. Behind them, Major Chevalier and Colonel Sharpe followed on foot.

"The Lady is this way." Seiryn and D'Aoust spurred their horses towards the cathedral. Once at the cathedral, both dismounted and began to walk up the stairs leading into the sanctuary. "My lady! This is one of the offworlders that the cardinal promised would come." Cried out Seiryn. Inside a group of armored warriors stood around a table with maps and papers spread about it.

"Is that so?" asked a woman, clad in armor similar to Seiryn's. D'Aoust took careful note of the lady's immense beauty. D'Aoust bowed and spoke.

"Your ladyship, I am Colonel Richard D'Aoust, the commander of the Soldat Expeditionary Force. I have been commanded by my superiors to come to your aide and destroy the heretic forces in the city." D'Aoust stopped and introduced his officers. "These are my subordinate officers, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sharpe and major Jean Chevalier." The two men saluted in response.

"Thank you for coming to our aid. Are you here to take command of the defense of my city or are you men at my disposal?" asked the Lady Kyr.

"My lady that is up to you to decide. It is not our place to tell you what would be the best for the defense of a city that we know little about."

"Excellent, you and your men shall be under Sir Seiryn's command." Replied Lady Kyr. "Sir Sei, deploy the Colonel as you see fit."

"Yes, my lady. Colonel what weapons are your men equipped with?" D'Aoust grinned and replied.

"Bolt-action rifles, sir."

"Bolt what?" asked one of the Faralon generals.

"It's a type of gun, sir, highly accurate with a high rate of fire." Answered Chevalier.

"I see, Colonel D'Aoust, I would like you to deploy your men along the walls to begin firing down onto the traitors." Requested Seiryn.

"Very good sir. Major Chevalier move your regiment onto the walls." Ordered D'Aoust. Just as Chevalier was about to salute a loud roar resounded. "What in the Emperor's name was that?" asked D'Aoust. A Soldat soldier burst into the room and shouted with a panicked stricken voice.

"Colonel! The traitors just blasted the East gate open with a cannon! They're charging was we speak!" Quickly the officers inside the cathedral charged out and began to shouted orders.

"Sharpe's Eagles! Form double ranks at the gate!" shouted Sharpe.

"D'Aoust's Warriors! Form mounted double rank behind the 2nd Regiment!" order D'Aoust. As he mounted his horse one of his junior officers rode up to him.

"Colonel, we've never done a mounted double rank before!"

"No time like the present!" replied D'Aoust. "Mister Chevalier form your men in triple rank in front of the cathedral! You are to prevent the enemy from taking that building at all costs!"

"Yes, sir." Quickly the soldiers of Soldat formed their lines and prepared to meet the enemy face to face. Sharpe slung his customized rifle off his shoulder and joined his men in the ranks.

"Heavy bolters! Fire at will!" At Sharpe's command the heavy bolters opened fire cutting down many enemies but still they advanced climbing over the bodies of their fallen comrades. "Rifles! Make ready!" Sharpe's men raised their weapons. "Take aim!"

Another roar resounded as several of the charging traitors sudden exploded in a rain of flesh and blood. A loud crack followed and suddenly a section of Sharpe's line fell. The traitors had fired their cannon again. The solid metal shot flew through the air cutting through several of their own men before smashing into the center of Sharpe's line, badly mauling the tightly formed ranks of Soldatans.

"Damn it! Reform the line and fire at will! Reform and fire at will!" shouted Sharpe. He turned and faced the enemy and raised his rifle and began to fire. Behind Sharpe, D'Aoust had his cavalry formed into ranks. D'Aoust had his men firing in volleys by rank. After volley after volley from the Soldat soldiers the traitor forces gave way and they began to retreat.

"They're falling back boys! Charge them now before they regroup!" shouted D'Aoust as he drew his saber and charged forward. Behind him his cavalry surged after him sabers gleaming in the sun while Sharpe's infantry advanced behind them.

Takeda and his comrades knew nothing of the fierce fighting that engulfed the city, which they had now learned, was called Geffenia. The results of the battle did not even concern them. Takeda, O'Neill, and their men had landed thousands of kilometers behind enemy lines. If anything went wrong, there would be no way for them to extract before facing overwhelming numbers of enemies. The Specal Landing Battalion, along with the 234th, had been deployed a little over dozen kilometers from the enemy capital. They had located an abandoned village and converted it into their base of operations. All around the village guardsmen moved supplies and weapons to fortify the village into a proper Imperial Guard base.

The village was located a good fifteen kilometers away from the enemy capital in a heavily forested section of the province. The town had been long forgotten, but it served as the perfect forward base. Rain strolled across the streets and boulevards with ease surveying the bustle of activity around her. A plan was already forming in her head how to proceed. It was simple yet efficient, the sort of plans that Rain preferred. She turned on her vox and spoke softly into the microphone.

"Colonel O'Neill, Major Takeda please meet me in the town hall in twenty minutes." The two quickly responded. Rain smirked and switched her vox to a different channel. "Have several sets of cloths prepared, local peasant style."

"As you command, Lady Inquisitor." Replied her aide. Rain smiled coolly; as long as she could start conducting successful reconnaissance operations within the week she should be able to move to phase two of her plan.

Yet despite the initial success with the defense of the planetary capital, now know to the Imperial relief force as Prontera, and the successful insertion of over six thousand men, there was something lingering in the air and her mind that troubled Rain. Around her at times she could feel the tendrils of the Warp touch her psychic shield. Yet just as soon as it came it went and each time Rain reached out with her mind she found nothing. That by itself was more troubling then any presence she could feel.


	8. Ch 7: The Knife in the Dark

Chapter 7: The Knife in the Dark

0148, Province of Chanler three weeks later

Over the course of the last several weeks' operations both in Noting Wind and Geffenia began in earnest. Inquisitor LeBeau, her partner Inquisitor Vlinstad, and a team of Cadians had infiltrated the enemy capital and began to conduct reconnaissance operations. Meanwhile in Geffenia, Inquisitor Von Morris had begun his purge of disloyal elements with earnest. Disloyal army officers were purged by the hundreds as the rebel army units were rounded up and destroyed, yet despite the purge it soon became obvious that there were many more disloyal nobles then originally thought. So many, in fact, that if given enough time they could rally a numerically superior force and overrun the capital. Von Morris, a former member of the Ordo Hereticus before joining the Ordo Xenos, planned a daring simultaneous raid that would eliminate the most influential of the disloyal nobles.

As Sun Yu Koo's security personnel did not deploy alongside Rain's forces, but were assigned to assist Von Morris conduct his purges. Numbering five hundred twenty-eight men in total, all of them former Guardsmen, Stormtroopers, Grenadiers, or Arbites. They were a battle harden and skilled force. All of Sun Yu's men were mounted in Chimers and Valkyries. Supplementing the security teams were the two hundred handpicked female airmobile stormtroopers of Inquisitor Von Morris himself. After a week of careful planning the Inquisitor struck like lighting. Dozens of objectives were to be struck simultaneously across a dozen different provinces.

Lady Kyr sat alongside Seiryn in Inquisitor Von Morris' command Valkyrie listening to updates from the strike teams. Around her Von Morris, Koo, and their command teams coordinated the attack.

"This is Strike Team Alpha approaching objective." Reported the leader of Strike Team Alpha. Kyr watched through the man's helmet camera as their Valkyrie swung in low over the battlements of the target's manor. The door-mounted heavy bolters roared to life spitting out high-powered rounds out onto the garrison. Quickly ropes were thrown out of the Valkyrie and the squad pilled out. "Go! Go! Go!" shouted the squad leader. "Unit Two clear right! Unit One on me!" As soon as the air assault team hit the ground, both squads began to move with lighting speed as they stormed the manor. Suddenly the gate of the manor cracked and gave way to the ramming power of a Chimera as the ground assault team charged forward. The two squad ground team rushed out of their vehicles and began to lay down suppressing fire. "Command this is Strike Team Alpha! We have secured the target and are move to extract. Alpha out" Kyr stared in awe at the technology at the Inquisition's disposal.

"Roger that Strike Team Alpha proceed to rally point Charlie and await further orders, Command out."

"Roger that, Strike Team Alpha out."

"Command this is Foxtrot Three we got a problem."

"What sort of problem?"

"It looks like a…" the line went dead. Suddenly the command team kicked into high gear.

"Alpha One and Two divert to Objective Foxtrot." Shouted one of the vox operators into his set. "Strike Team Foxtrot respond. I repeat, Strike Team Foxtrot respond."  
"This is Foxtrot Victor Four; we're buried under what's left of the southwest wall. No contact with the ground teams." The voice paused. "Shit!! Shit! Shit! Command we got a fire in the cabin. I repeat we got a fire in the cabin. Get that fucking ammo out of there now!" The vox channel filled with screams and gunshots as boxes of heavy stubber rounds ignited from the flames, shredding the crew of Foxtrot Tango Four. The operator cut the line and sat in stunned silence.

"All units, this is command proceed with extreme caution. Strike Team Foxtrot just got wiped out from some sort of explosion. Be on the look out for any explosive devices. If unable to disable the explosives then get the hell out. Command out." Von Morris turned to Koo.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked angrily.

"I think we just got our asses kicked, Inquisitor."

Somewhere in the province of Noting Wind that same time

"That idiot, Leon almost ruined our plans."

"Well at least they didn't capture him alive for interrogation. We should move now before all of our allies are hunted down and exterminated. We cannot afford to loose the initiative."

"Then you're an idiot too. You move now and we tip our hand before the Imperials have opened themselves up for an attack. If you make any such moves without my approval I will withdraw my support and leave you to your fates." Murmurs began to spread across the table as a collection of rebel leaders and their patrons discussed the raids near Geffenia. The noble stood up in rage.

"This is an outrage! You are guests and advisors, not my lord and master!" shouted the angry noble.

"We serve the same master in the scheme of things. Now be seated and silence yourself." Came an older and much more wizened voice. "Baron Leon was a powerful ally. Unfortunately, he made his move at the wrong time and this has led to his unfortunate demise. Lady Kyr, though young and inexperienced, is a quite competent leader and with Leon showing his hand like that she now suspects many of her nobles could betray. Fortunately for us, our friends and honored guests," the noble nodded respectfully towards their friends, "will be coming to aid us." As the old man ended one of their "friends" stepped forward. The man was clad in an enormous set of black armor and as he spoke, his voice crackled with madness and hate.

"We need another three weeks before we can make our move. You must hold off the Imperials until then." The old man smiled wickedly revealing his rotted, yellow teeth.

"As you wish Lord Balthazar, but what do we do with that snooping women and her colleagues?"

"Let her be. She shall soon face the full might of our power." The assembled nobles rose together and saluted Balthazar.

"As you wish."


	9. Ch 8: Trying Times

Chapter 8: Trying times

1321 Castle Noting Wind the next day

Rain walked slowly down the street of Castle Noting Wind, all around her the inhabitants rushed about as yet another messenger from the front had come with news of the war. Rain's heart was filled with joy as the messenger brought news of yet another disastrous defeat. This day marked third week since the Expeditionary Force arrived and the rebels have been steadily pushed back by the power of the Soldatans and newly reorganized native forces. Suddenly, a sharp pain ran through her head and Rain blinked hard and felt something wet slide down her face. Reaching up to wipe off the moisture she looked down with shock as her fingers were covered in blood. All around her she felt the tendrils of the warp close in and grab her. Rain fell to her knees screaming as blood ran freely from her eyes and nose.

Sergeant Kawalsky stared in surprise as the Inquisitor fell. Quickly he scanned their area searching for hostiles, his hand tightening his grip on his lasgun. His eyes darted from window to window to rooftop to rooftop. He could feel it in his very soul; the enemy had just made their move. He turned around and drew his lasgun and prepared to fire, but it was already too late. Kawalsky fell to the ground, his body perforated by half a dozen crossbow bolts and he thought no more.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is Indigo Three we are under attack! Request immediate extraction!" shouted Specialist Ford into his vox set. Next to him the leader of the Cadian infiltration team, Captain John Sheppard, fired another burst of las fire into the ranks of the enemy.

"This is Alpha Four we read you loud and clear. RRF unit, Romeo Alpha is on route now, ETA ten minutes. Alpha Four out" Ford cussed loudly.

"Alpha Four we don't have ten minutes! The VIP is down and Indigo Four just got shot to hell!"

"Indigo Three, this is Alpha Four. Just hold out until support can arrive." Ford swore again and shouted to Sheppard.

"Captain! Reinforcements are inbound, ETA ten minutes!" Sheppard nodded and shouted back.

"Wonderful! Just wonderful!" Sheppard activated his headset and began to bark orders. "All Indigo units this is Sheppard! Rally on me and proceed to Rally Point Four! Sheppard out" Sheppard looked over at Ford. "Lets get the hell out of this dump. Suppressing fire on my mark!"

Takeda, O'Neill, and their assembled staffed observed a real time holographic map of the city. They watched as the Indigo units fought their way through the city to reach the extraction zone.

"Indigo Four has taken seventy-five percent losses. The rest of the team is unharmed but they're facing overwhelming numbers. It's like the entire damn city is converging on them." Reported Corporal Saigo. Takeda and O'Neill looked over the map as they plotted their course of action.

"Scramble the Vultures, I want air support to cover the Indigo units to extraction." Ordered Takeda he turned to Colonel O'Neill and asked "Colonel O'Neill is it possible to do an air extraction?"

"Streets are too narrow and the courtyards has too many hostiles, I'd say that an air evac is impossible." Replied O'Neill. The two officers stood silently for a moment. O'Neill messaged his temples and began to speak. "We need to move the Indigo units out of the city and into the wilderness were we can gain an advantage."

"Colonel, aren't all of your Kasrkin units mounted on Chimeras?" asked Kempei-Major Shimizu.

"Are you suggesting that an armored convey move into the city?" asked O'Neill.

"Yes exactly. The Landing Battalion already has a platoon inbound to reinforce Indigo's position. They can set up a parameter at Rally Point Four and hold until the convey can arrive. Once the convey arrives the RRF and Indigo units hop on and pull out of the city." O'Neill and Takeda looked at each other and began to shout orders to their subordinates.

"Major McKnight! Load up your men and prepare to move into the city!" McKnight saluted and ran off to begin to organize his men. Timing would be critical or else the men in the city would be crushed by overwhelming numbers. He looked at what he had at his disposal, just ten Chimeras in total, hardly an overwhelming force but they would do. McKnight looked over the Amatsu Sentinel pilots as they prepared for battle. Those Sentinel pilots would provide the bulk of the rescue team's firepower.

"Convoy this is McKnight! I want everyone onboard and ready to haul ass and I wanted it done five minutes ago. So get your gear squared away and get you ass into the vehicles!" McKnight's convoy roared out a battle cry in response and began to quickly stow the last of their equipment into their transports and mount up. "234th lets move out!" With a low rumble the vehicles in the retrieval convoy kicked into gear and rolled out of their base towards the hostile city.

Meanwhile, Captain Hamasaki and his Rapid Reaction Force swooped in low over the city to the Indigo's position. Mounted in their Valkyrie Assault Carriers, the Rapid Reaction Force swept over the city.

"All RRF units stand by." Called out Hamasaki over the vox system. The Valkyries positioned themselves as ropes were hurled out the sides. "Down the ropes! Go! Go! Go!" The RRF units slid down the ropes with ease and quickly took up positions in the plaza and positioned their heavy weapons to cover the roadways. Captain Shepard greeted the RRF and shouted over the roar of weapons fire.

"Did you boys bring any extra ammo?" Hamasaki nodded and detailed some men to bring over the ammunition crates that had been dropped in by the Valkyries. Hamasaki looked down at his hands as they began to shake. This was the first time he was under fire since Oron and by the God-Emperor was he afraid, very afraid.

"Hostile cavalry! West side! Suppressing fire!" cried out one soldier. Almost as soon as the enemy formed to charge a Valkyrie swung in from overhead guns blazing shattering both man and beast in a textbook example of close air support. Cheers of joy erupted from the Guardsmen as the low-tech heretics struggled to match the firepower of the faithful.

"When's the convoy arriving?" asked a Cadian.

"At least an hour!" replied an Amatsuan

"Could be worse!" Shouted another as the group of warriors laughed such as only men who have seen fates worse then death would. Despite their spirit, their weapons, and their training, wave upon wave of traitors crashed against their defensives like a flood. As the battle wore on it drove into the minds of the besieged Guardsmen the inevitable: they were being overrun.

"This is Captain Sheppard! All Indigo and RRF units fall back by the numbers! Fall back to the stronghold! By the numbers! Even units back!" Quickly the Guardsmen executed a fighting withdrawal into a series of buildings that they had fortified during the battle. Sheppard grabbed Ford and connected to Major McKnight.

"Major McKnight, this is Captain Sheppard!"

"This is McKnight, I read you. Go ahead."

"Sir, the enemy is beginning to overrun my position. We've fallen back to the stronghold but they just keep coming."

"How are your boys doing on ammo?"

"Running low on heavy bolter rounds but we have plenty of power cells for the lasguns."

"Captain, I want you to sit tight and hold your ground. The convoy is about five minutes from your position. McKnight out."

"Roger that sir." Replied Sheppard. Turning to his men he shouted "Five minutes. The convoy is coming in five minutes!"

Meanwhile, Captain Hamasaki sat with his lasgun curled up in his arms shaking uncontrollably. Hamasaki looked at his hands as they shook. "Why," he wondered, "why did Takeda choose me over all the others. Why am I leading a company when so many others died or were passed up for promotion? I am weak compared to the others." Tears slide down Hamasaki's face and his spirit collapsed.

"Captain! Captain Hamasaki!" Staff Sergeant Ichiro Suzuki shouted as he burst into the room. "Captain, the convoy is here!" Suzuki paused and looked at Hamasaki closely. "Captain?"

"I…" started Hamasaki but the roar of a cannon interrupted him. Hamasaki blinked once and fell. Suzuki stared in shock for a moment and ran to the edge of the floor that had been ripped asunder by a cannon ball.

"Captain!" shouted Suzuki. He looked down to the floor bellow and saw Hamasaki roll onto his side blood running freely from multiple wounds. "Captain, don't move! I'll get a medic to you!" Hamasaki looked up at him and blinked. "Man down! Medic!" Shouted Suzuki as he ran out of sight. Hamasaki sighed, as the darkness consumed him with only one thought on his mind, he was a failure.

Outside, McKnight and his men piled out of their vehicles and began to spray lasfire at the traitors as they threatened to rush the Guardsmen. Musket balls and crossbow bolts few at them from all directions. A Cadian infiltrator screamed as a musket ball smashed into the side of his throat ripping apart his trachea. The man collapsed in a heap and moved no more. An Amatsu Guardsman made a mad dash towards the safety of the Chimeras. Halfway there he fell as a crossbow bolt sliced through his thigh. Overcoming the pain, the Guardsman tried to crawl his way to the convoy.

"Don't let that man crawl!" shouted McKnight. One of his Kasrkins rushed over and hauled the Guardsman to his feet and together they reached the cover of the convoy. McKnight grinned and continued to pour fire at the enemy from his bolter. Quickly the infiltration team and the Inquisitor were loaded onto Chimeras.

"Major McKnight this is Valk Two-five hostile forces are massing on your exit route. If you don't clear them out of your way they could overrun your convoy as you exfil out of there."

"Roger that Valk Two-Five. Can you clear them out?"

"That is a negative Major. The buildings are blocking our guns. You'll have to clear them out on foot."

"Roger that." McKnight swore loudly.

"Major, the Amatsu 1st will clear the path." Shouted Suzuki. McKnight eyed the diminutive sergeant suspiciously. Suzuki let out a toothy grin and shouted. "Amatsu! Fix bayonets!" Suzuki and the Amatsu Guardsmen quickly formed a three deep block of men in front of the convoy. Suzuki stood at their head, his chainsword in hand. "Amatsu! Banzai to the Emperor!" The Amatsu Guardsmen roared in response and charged towards the enemy with their lasguns leveled and their bayonets at the ready. Their charged caught the traitors off guard, smashing into their ranks before they could form into a proper formation. Amatsu bayonets met traitor blades as the platoon of brave Amatsu soldiers forced their way through the traitors.

In the swirling melee Suzuki was everywhere at once. Carving a traitor in half on the left flank then moving to the right shouting orders and encouragement while blasting away with his laspistol. Suddenly the morale of the traitors burst and like water from a ruptured dam, they fled away from the Amatsu Guardsmen. Of the little over forty Guardsmen who made the charge, barely half of their number remained standing. Yet their charge had broken the courage of a force twice their number and paved the way for the convoy.

"Make pick up on the casualties and load up on a Chimera!" shouted Suzuki as McKnight's convoy drove towards them. Quickly, the survivors loaded their wounded and fallen and shut the hatches behind them. Despite the heroism and the massive casualties they had inflicted on the traitors, the initiative has swung in the favor of the traitors.

That same time 80 kilometers from Geffenia Castle

Major Jean Chevalier smiled at the beautiful women in front of him. Smiling he chatted with her over anything and everything. "This is the life." He thought. "No worries, just relaxing with a bottle of fine wine and a beautiful woman." Just as the thought left his mind he heard shouting.

"Major Chevalier! Major! The column is moving out!" Chevalier cursed and turned to the woman and kissed her boldly.

"My dear, when this war is over I'll come back for ya." The woman just smiled and pushed him out the door. Chevalier smiled and grabbed his rifle and softly sung himself an old soldier's song from back home on Soldat as he exited the house of the beauty. As he stepped he saw Sharpe shouting in that bombastic way that always reminded everyone he was a sergeant once upon a time.

"All right you lazy buggers! On your feet! We got ten miles to march and a battle to win!" Chevalier smile grew wider as he walked towards Sharpe and saluted. Sharpe returned the salute. "Getting a little friendly with the natives eh Jean?" Chevalier blushed slightly from the teasing of the older officer. "Get your regiment moving Major we got time to meet other dames on the road ahead."

"Yes, sir!" shouted Chevalier and ran over to his men. Chevalier surveyed them before approaching them. Despite his inexperience he had been blessed with a lot of good sergeants. "Chevalier's Volunteers! Lets move out!" He turned to his piper and called out. "Piper strike up a tone for the men."

"Aye, sir. What shall it be?" replied the piper.

"The Gentlemen Soldier would be appropriate." Chevalier replied with a grin.

"Yes, sir!" The piper saluted and propped the small reed instrument to his lips and let out the spirited tune of "The Gentlemen Soldier." Following the sounds of the pipe Chevalier's 3rd Soldat Rifle Regiment marched forward.

Many hours later, the Soldatans and their Geffenian support reached the major city of Laslow. Laslow was originally a loyalist city, but it had fallen to a vicious attack from the traitors. In the aftermath of the attack, the entire city had been sacked and thousands of loyalists, both soldiers and civilians, were crucified in a field outside the city. From the positions the Imperials were taking, they could easily see the thousands of wooden crosses that were strewn across the eastern hillside. Chevalier tightened the grip on his rifle sling at the sight of those bodies. "Vengeance will be had." He thought to himself. Suddenly, the roar of artillery fire brought his mind back to the siege line. The Basilisk vehicles were the only modern vehicles in the entire Soldatan arsenal. The entire battery was a gift from their benefactors in the Inquisition to give the Soldatan artillery an edge over the rebels. Turning from the guns, Chevalier spotted Sharpe leading a detachment of his light infantry companies to encircle the city. The next day Sharpe and his men would be reinforced, but for now his men were enough to place the noose around the rebel defenders.

All night long, the artillery bombarded the rebels. As the morning sun rose, it revealed piles of rubble and burned out buildings. Little remained of the southern wall. Already Sharpe's regiment, along with two regiments of the Geffenian Royal Army, was in position alongside Sharpe's 2nd Soldatan Rifles. It was time for the Imperials to begin their assault on the city. Colonel D'Aoust watched as the first wave prepared to advance. Leading the assault was the 5th Brunswick Regular Gunners supported by the 34th Hollister Irregular Muskets, and the 8th Royal Rifles. Most of the assaulting regiments were armed with muskets, but the 8th Royal Rifles were armed with the Soldatan 1970 pattern bolt-action rifle. They would be forming tip of the spear of the assault.

Chevalier watched anxiously as the first wave formed up and began to march forward pipes, drums, and bugles blaring away. He watched through his binoculars as the Hollister Irregulars advanced towards the city under heavy artillery fire. Despite the bombardment of the city, the defenders were still able to lay an impressive amount of firepower on the 1st wave. Chevalier watched in stunned silence as the Hollister Irregulars clambered over the ruins of the outer wall only to be chewed to bits by grapeshot from the defenders. Left and right, Irregulars were cut to pieces by well-timed volleys of musket fire and artillery. Despite their best efforts the Hollister Irregulars collapsed, sending the right flank of the assault into a panic as Royal Regulars tried to push past Hollister Irregulars to the front.

Just as it looked like the 8th Royal Regulars would carry the day, a roar was heard over the sounds of battle. Chevalier looked up to the sky and saw the distinctive shape of Chaos Doomfire bombers swoop down over the battlefield. Doomfires were normally used only in space engagements, yet the Enemy had some how modified them to operate in both. The bombers swooped in low, almost as if they were fully aware that they had not set up anti-aircraft batteries.

"Incoming! Enemy bombers!" shouted Chevalier. All around him, Soldatan Guardsmen dove for cover while the natives broke into a panic and fled in all directions. The entire of the 8th Royal Rifles' advance was broken in seconds as men abandoned their weapons, their positions, their comrades, and their discipline at the sight of these flying machines coming to bring them death. Explosions ripped apart entire whole regiments as the masses of panicked soldiers made easy targets for the bombers as the entire army was carpet bombed.

As quick as they appeared, the bombers left, leaving the tattered remains of the Loyalist army behind them. Thousands of men were killed or wounded in the attack and the survivors were in a state of shock. Chevalier looked around him and watched the Laslow Garrison sally from their defenses to sweep the Loyalist army from the field. If they were successful, the war would be set back another year or two at least. A decision had to be made and quick, or else all would be loss.

"Men of Soldat! Reform your lines! We're taking the fight to them!" shouted Chevalier. He stood up as big and proud as he could, waving his sword around as he went. "Bugler! Rally call!" The young boy armed with both rifle and bugle saluted Chevalier and put his instrument to his lips and began to sound the call to rally. Colonel D'Aoust smiled as he saw Chevalier rally his regiment and began to shout excitedly.

"Go boy, go! Rally your men and smash the enemy! Turn this day into a victory worth celebrating!" D'Aoust turned to the other officers around him and shouted to them. "Don't let that boy charge the enemy by himself rally some men and support him!" D'Aoust turned to an aide. "Get the 1st out there and have the 95th Royal Rifles make their advance." The aide saluted and ran off only to replaced by another aide who stormed into the command post shouting as loud as his tired voice would let him.

"Colonel! Several companies from the 5th Brunswick Gunners have rallied and are blunting the enemy's counter-attack!"

"Where? Where are their positions?" demanded D'Aoust. The aide pointed to a map laid out on a table.

"Here Colonel. Just a little over a kilometer and a half from the city walls in the Western sector. From what we saw from the observation post was around a dozen companies forming defensive positions." D'Aoust nodded.

"Send in the 23rd Ulstra Irregulars to support them and have Sharpe's men move to support them."

Captain Martin Hess of the 5th Brunswick Regular Gunners was in the fight of his life. Most of the regiment's officer corps had been killed or incapacitated during the battle and he was currently leading a little over two battalions of men in a desperate stand to prevent the enemy from overrunning them. Out of the entire officer corps of the 5th, Captain Hess was the highest ranked left standing. There were several more senior officers still alive, but all of them were too badly wounded to assume command of the regiment or were isolated too far from the bulk of the regiment to do anything but lead what ever men that were left around them.

Colonel John Riley of the Aron Brigade looked down at the Brunswick Gunners as they fired furiously at his advancing men. Colonel Riley wiped a bit of moisture from his eyes, he had fought alongside the 5th Brunswick Regular Gunners before as part of the 1st Royal Aron Musketeers a little over ten years ago, before the nobles of Aron had declared their allegiance to Noting Wind. Since then Aron had been one of the first rebel territories to fall and the survivors of the regiments of Aron had formed the Aron Brigade. Colonel Riley turned to his second-in-command Major Jacob Brian and shouted to him.

"Never thought I would live to see this day!"

"Aye sir!" replied the major.

"Give them no quarter! Let's give them a heroes' death!"

"Yes sir! Aron Brigade! Fix bayonets!" All along the line of the Aron Brigade's gun line, thousands of bayonets glinted from the sunlight. With a roar the Aron Brigade charged down towards the Brunswick Gunners.

"For Aron and freedom!" was their battle cry and the soldiers of the Aron Brigade let loose in a thundering roar as thousands of the sons Aron converged on the survivors of the Brunswick 5th. Dozens of Aronish fell as the Brunswick gunners fired furiously at their enemy trying to stem the tide that swept over them.

"Captain! We won't be able to this position for much longer! We have to fall back." Captain Hess nodded and shouted out.

"Bugler! Sound the retreat! Everybody fall back! Brunswick, fall back!" The surviving regimental buglers began to sound the command to retreat. Dozens of Brunswick Gunners were cut down as they abandoned their positions. Despite their best efforts, the 5th Brunswick broke and fled, causing the entire flank of the Loyalist army to collapse. Following the collapse on the right flank, the left flank was broken by a determined enemy counterattack. The efforts of the reserve units and the Soldatans could not turn the tide of the battle. Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe was forced to withdraw his force and Major Chevalier had to fall back or have his entire regiment encircled and destroyed by the enemy.

At the end of the battle, several of the Soldatan Basilisks were destroyed and thousands of Loyalist troops had been killed, captured, or wounded. Whole regiments were hardly able form a single company. What was going to be an easy victory ended in a total rout of the entire Loyalist army. The battle for Faralon had just escalated to a whole new level. It was doomed to be a bloody conflict.


	10. Ch 9: To Arms! To Arms!

Chapter 9: To Arms! To Arms!

Rain's eye slowly slid open. She blinked hard trying shield her eyes from the lights around her, she began scanned her surroundings. She could feel a dry heat around her. Rain felt so tired as she drifted back into conciseness then suddenly the world came into perfect clarity.

"Lady Inquisitor?" Rain blinked and turned her head over the Captain Sheppard. "Lady Inquisitor, are you alright?"

"What happened, Captain?" Slowly she righted herself and sat upright inside the Chimera.

"You fainted, Lady Inquisitor. Right when you fell we were ambushed by the traitors. We were compromised and had to be extracted by Major McKnight." Rain nodded slowly and sat quietly until they reached the forward base.

Rain stepped out of the Chimera and shielded her eyes from the light. Before she could even take a step from the Chimera, several Amatsu medics rush to her and demanded to attend to her injures. Forcing her way through them, she reached the command center where Takeda and his fellow officers were discussing their next course of action.

"Major, give me a sitrep." She glared at them as they stared out her in shock. "Now." Immediately the myriad of officers began to shout out at once. "I was speaking to Major Takeda. Major?"

"Yes, ma'am. We've called in an orbital bombardment of the city as soon as our forces evacuated the city. But the problem is that before the navy could begin a wide scale bombardment, traitor forces moved into the system and forced the Naval Task Force to break orbit. So from what my scouts report, the enemy is massing an army to wipe us out. We have set a strong defensive perimeter with overlapping fields of fire and well-positioned mortar pits to provide supporting fire." Rain nodded.

"The size of the enemy force?"

"At least ten thousand, more then enough to drown our defenses in blood and wipe us out to the last man. We are currently loading equipment and material into our air transports and armored vehicles. Our position here is no longer retainable and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure the survival of our fighting forces and yourself."

"Very thoughtful, major. Have my retinue prepare my equipment for transport and…" Before Rain could finish, alarms began to blare inside the command dugout. An auspex operator shouted.

"Major! Multiple contacts dropping in from orbit, standard Astartes drop formation." Takeda's face paled instantly.

"This is Major Takeda to all units! Traitor marines are inbound. All anti-air defenses are to go on high alert. All personnel, report to your positions." Takeda turned to Rain. "You better get your weapons and armor on." Rain nodded.

"Good luck, Shugo. I'll be waiting with my retinue at the landing pad."

"I'll see you there, Rain. The Emperor protects."

"The Emperor protects." echoed Rain as she slipped out of the dug out to retrieve her weapons and armor. Takeda watched the beautiful woman exit and retrieved his own weapons from where he had placed them on the weapons rack inside the dugout. Sliding his weapons into their familiar places, he took his newest weapon off the rack: a compact, semi-automatic, belt-fed shotgun, and chambered the first shell. Flanked by his aides, Takeda stepped outside and into the chaos of war.

Corporal Kenji Hamura was never one to be frightened, but what he just heard over the vox had turned his blood cold. Looking to his left and right at his squad mates, he wondered who would be left alive after this fight was through. Hamura and his squad had been assigned to help protect one of the sabre defence platforms that had been set up for anti-aircraft duty.

"Hamura, take charge over here. I'm taking Fire Team One out." Ordered his squad leader.

"Understood." Replied Hamura, after the sergeant left, Hamura turned to one of his squad mates. "What the hell is wrong the sergeant, he's going to get everybody killed separating us like that."

"No idea, maybe he thinks he can take out some of those traitor marines." Before Hamura could respond, one of the spotters shouted out.

"Contact!" Immediately, the two autocannon-equipped platforms took aim and opened fire in a barrage of shells. After several bursts of gunfire, one of the drop pods began to spin wildly out of control. The Amatsuans cheered and quickly brought their weapons to bear on another target. This time, with a thundering rattle, the heavy stubber platform opened up in a rapid barrage of bullets the whizzed through the air alongside the heavier shells of the autocannons. From beyond Hamura's line of sight, several Hydras opened up, knocking several more pods out of the fight.

"Brace yourselves!" Called out Hamura. Despite the wall of firepower being directing at the pods, most of them were slipping through the defense. All Hamura had at to defend his position was himself, three riflemen, and the squad's heavy bolter. While it was not as much as he would have liked, it would have to do. He watched as one of the pods landed just several dozen meters from his position. Flipping out the bipod on his lasgun he placed it on the sandbags facing the traitor marines and shouted. "Light'em up!" A barrage of light flew in the direction of the traitor marines as they stormed out of their pod. The rifle fire was quickly joined by pistol fire from the anti-aircraft guns' spotters as they fought to defend their positions. Purple and black armored monstrosities clambered out of the pod, ignoring scores of lasfire and began to fire disciplined bursts of bolter fire at the Guardsmen. Swinging their heavy weapons emplacements around, the anti-aircraft crews opened up a devastating barrage onto the traitors. With a roar, they began to advance, ignoring scores of wounds.

"For Amatsu and the Emperor!" cried out a group of Guardsmen as they launched a vicious attack on the traitors left flank. Hamura looked and saw amongst a clump of vegetation his squad leader and his fire team fire on the traitor marine. With a thud, the squad's grenade launcher went off and delivering a powerful explosion to the face of one of the marines knocking him out of the fight. Another marine brought his heavy bolter to bear and with a roar, sliced down two of the Guardsmen. The relentless fire from the Imperials felled another two Marines.

The battle continued back and forth as the Imperials desperately tried to hold back the traitors. Just when the traitor marines looked like they were beginning to gain the upper hand, a trio of Chimeras roared into position, multi-lasers blazing. Out of the vehicles, charged three full squads of Kasrkin, firing disciplined bursts of hot-shot lasgun fire. The powerful shots made quick work of the surviving marines who, despite the array of firepower against them, managed to slay four of the Kasrkin.

"Corporal!" shouted one of the survivors from Fire Team 1.

"Where's the sergeant?"

"Gone, sir. You're in command now."

"Damn." Hamura nodded and quickly positioned his men for another attack. The wounded Kasrkin squad took up positions along side them while their comrades sped off to thwart another enemy attack.

Meanwhile, outside the command dugout, Takeda was shouting to his men when the first drop pods hit. Before Takeda and his men could react, Rain and her PMC bodyguard detail opened up with hellgun and plasmagun fire. Despite the initial barrage, the enemy pushed forward, firing as they moved. Guardsmen went down screaming left and right as almost thirty traitor Marines made their assault on the command dugout.

"Fall back into the dug out! Fall back, by fire and movement!" shouted Takeda. Immediately the Guardsmen began to fall back laying, bursts of suppressive fire onto the traitor marines. Despite this, the traitor marines continued their advance, cutting down men left and right. "Rain, get down!"

Takeda quickly shoved Rain to the ground. Before he could bring up his plasma pistol, Takeda fell screaming in agony as a bolt round grazed his shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh with it. Drawing his sword, Takeda fended off one of the charging marines. Suddenly, a burst of pain and agony overtook Takeda as his left arm disappeared. Falling to his knee, Takeda looked up at the Chaos Space Marine standing over him. Before the marine could deliver the final blow, his head exploded, splattering Takeda with his blood. Takeda collapsed on his side and saw Rain rushing towards him with a smoking bolt pistol in her hand. Her hands crackled with psykic energy and she unleashed her powers on the marines. Four of them fell instantly dead before her wrath. Rain rushed to Takeda side.

"Shugo, don't try to move, Sergeant Saito is on his way." Takeda winced through the pain and tried to slow his breathing. "You saved my life Shugo. Pushing me into cover like that, thank you." Rain smiled and stroked Takeda jaw line. "You'll be alright, Shugo. Once we get out of this hellhole, I'll give you something to show my thanks." Takeda blinked several times and slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

Despite successfully repulsing Traitor Marines at many of the key anti-aircraft positions and the command dugout, numerous Marines had survived their engagements with the defenders and were making a determined advance towards the Eastern end of the base. Almost as soon as the marines landed, the army of Noting Wind had begun to punish the outer defenses on the Eastern side. Swarms of expendable conscripts were sent forward into the guns of the defenders. Caught between the hordes of heretics and the might of the marines, many of the defenders were surrounded with little chance for survival.

"This is Captain Barnes to Colonel O'Neill. Sir, we've been surrounded; the best we can do right now is to hold them off long enough for you to evacuate base." Shouted the bloodied and exasperated captain into his vox set.

"Captain this is no time for last stand heroics. I want you to consolidate your forces and force a break out through the marines. You are to save as much of your command as possible."

"Colonel. I can't complete those orders. I have already consolidated my company as well as what was left of Echo Company and we've set up a redoubt in the Forward Command Post. We'll hold them for as long as possible, good luck Colonel." Barnes terminated his vox link and stepped out of the dugout and shouted to his men. "Hold the line! Soldiers of Cadia, make the traitors pay for every inch of ground they take! For the honor of Cadia!" Barnes looked over the walls of his redoubt at the traitor marines. Spearheading their assault were a group of massive men in sets of ancient terminator armor. Bursts of bolt fire washed over one side of the Cadian defenses as the marines relentlessly beat down the Cadians. On the other wall, swarms of mindless fanatics rushed towards the defenses of the Cadians. Despite dying in droves, they continued to advance.

"For the Prince of Pleasure!" roar the marines as they charged forward, shrugging off all but the most powerful of the Imperial weapons fire. On the other side of the wall, at last the elites of armies of Noting Wind charged forward sandwiching the defenders between the rock of the heretics and the hammer of the Marines.

"Mint a becstelenség!" The shrill words of the Noting Wind battle cry made many of the Cadians wince. Captain Barnes watched in horror as the combined charge press towards his men despite their best efforts.

"234th! Hold them here!" The marines charged and hit the Cadians with the strength of a typhoon. Frag grenades decimated the defending Cadians and the marines quickly gunned down the survivors. Barnes snapped several shots with his bolt pistol, downing one marine before drawing his power saber. A flamer suddenly went off, engulfing dozens of marines and Cadians alike in a firestorm of hell. At point blank range, a fanatical Cadian metlagunner blasted apart one of the terminators. The blade of a Chaos Marine quickly rewarded the Cadian metlagunner's bravery by ripping the unfortunate Guardsman's intestines out and spilling them over the ground. The gunner screamed in agony as he slowly bled out. A screaming Guardsman charged one of the marines, his bayonet leveled for a perfect thrust to the kidney. Before the blade even made contact, the marine reached out and crushed the skull of the soldier, letting the nearly headless body drop to the floor.

"Feel the glory of Slaanesh!" bellowed one of the marines as he charged towards Barnes. Barnes quickly parried the attack. Swinging with all his might, Barnes lopped off the arm of the Marine. The Marine bellowed in anger and swung his fist towards Barnes. Barnes dodged and sliced the marine's head off. Barnes looked up at the swirling battle around him. Despite successfully beating back the Noting Wind troops several times, the Marines had smashed aside their defenses and were laying waste to the Imperial position.

"Stand your ground!" shouted Barnes as he emptied another magazine from his bolt pistol into the horde of Noting Wind troops. A hail of weapons fire from a Kasrkin squad dropped another five marines, but it was little too stem the tide that had turned against them. A desperate Cadian fired a krak grenade round form his grenade launcher at point blank range and blew a hole through the Marine. Barnes watch desperately as the enemy carved through his men as if they were paper. As he reached into his web gear for another magazine, suddenly it dawned on him, he drawing his last magazine. He slowly slid it into his pistol and released the bolt. Leveling it he fired slowly and deliberately, this was the last stand of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 234th Cadian Special Operations Regiment.

Colonel O'Neill swore loudly and switched channels on his vox. Captain Barnes and his entire command had just been wiped out. The Imperial Guard units had to evacuate the base while there still was an escape route.

"This is Colonel O'Neill to all Imperial units. We are evacuating the base. I repeat evacuate the base. All Cadian units are to report to the motor pool for immediate mounting on armored transports. All Amatsu units are to report to the airfield for immediate mounting on air transports. All equipment is to be evacuated or destroyed. Leave nothing for the enemy." O'Neill ended his transmission and grabbed his weapons and rushed outside. O'Neill quickly reached his command Chimera and sent out a signal to the Amatsu Brigade. "This is Colonel O'Neill to Major Takeda. Do you read me? Over."

"Colonel, this is Captain Ishida. Major Takeda has been wounded and is out of action. The Inquisitor is with him right now and they are preparing to be the first transport out. Most of the battalion is already loading up and we are preparing to lift off as we speak. How are things on your end?"

"Roger that Captain. My men are finishing with loading up and we'll be on our way out soon. You go ahead and get your boys outta here. O'Neill out."

"Yes, sir. May the Emperor be with you. Ishida out."

"And may He watch over you. O'Neill out." Ishida looked to the remaining Amatsu Guardsmen.

"Get onto your transport and lets get the hell out of here!" Ishida quickly rushed aboard his Valkyrie and watched the ramp close and the craft lift off. The Special Landing Battalion had the easy way out, taking all of the Valkyries and evacuating the base by air, but the 234th Cadian would be evacuating by armored convoy. They would face a long and dangerous trek over the mountains to reach the safety of the Loyalists lines.

Meanwhile across the entire world of Faralon, the call was issued to all. To arms! To arms! The drums of war are beating and the nobles are calling all able-bodied men to take up arms to fight the enemy. Thousands of recruits swarmed to their lords' service and took up arms for both sides. Elsewhere, deep in space a message had been sent out, a call for the loyal worlds of the Emperor to raise additional forces to combat the traitor assault on Faralon. Millions answered the call as a Naval battle group mobilized to reinforce the beleaguered Amatsu Naval Task Force and dozens of regiments were organized and deployed to fight in the system.

On Faralon, the desperate Loyalist forces had been pushed back to the city Valen. In orbit, the Amatsu Naval Task Force skirmished with the traitor naval forces in an effort to regain space supremacy and assure orbital support for the loyalists. The situation looked grim, but not as grim as in Valen, there the Soldatans were prepared to make a stand. Alongside them, there were the Sylmarian Partisan Rangers and thousands of loyalist troops. The Sylmarians had fought for the freedom of their world in conditions similar and were excellent guerilla warfare fighters, while the local loyalists were to be deployed en masse. Opposing them were several thousand traitor guardsmen and thousands of local traitors that had been recently equipped with semi-automatic rifles. Both sides were ready to fight to the death for the city as it sat in a dominating position with major roads and waterways leading to and from the city along with easy access to vital natural resources.

Outside the city were deployed the remaining Soldatan artillery along with several batteries of the Amatsu 3rd Artillery Regiment. Day and night the batteries of both the loyalist artillery and the traitors rained death down on each other. Finally the enemy made their advance. With a roar, ten thousand men advanced towards the Loyalist lines.

Before them, the loyalists waited patiently for the traitors to enter range of their guns. Suddenly, the first rank of the advancing traitors fell. Hundreds of men died in the initial volley. Quickly, the traitors continued to press their charge, as hundreds of their own men fell the traitors continued to advance. Arranged against them were the 67th Royal Rifles and the 32nd Brunswick Rifles with the 2nd Soldatan held in reserve. Commanding the defenses was Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe who had deployed his force in a series of well-planned trenches. Both of the front line regiments were newly formed and issued with the first of the Faralon native produced rifles, heavy stubbers, revolvers, and ammunition. The heavy stubbers spat out death by the hundreds, cutting down the enemy left and right.

Under this firestorm, the traitors finally broke without even getting a shot off. They broke and fled, leavening their wounded and dead strewn across the kill zone. Immediately afterwards another wave was sent, this time it was even larger then the first. They advanced farther than the first wave all the way to a dip in the earth that created a natural shelter; nearly five hundred meters away form their goal. From there the Traitors began to pour fire onto the loyalists. Unfortunately for them, that position had been pre-sighted for mortar and artillery fire. Dozens of powerful shells fell onto the traitors, ripping men apart and wounding many more. Quickly, the traitors' courage faltered and they broke ranks and fled.

On the other side of the kill zone, Lord **Lucius Draco watched as the handful of survivors from the second wave dragged themselves back to his main force. Already, he had lost close to nine thousand men in the first wave and with all likelihood, lost another ten thousand. Lucius turned to the commander of the traitor guard forces, the self-styled Generalissimo ****Pietro Loredun of the Loredun's Freemen Volunteers. ** ** "Generalissimo, my men are being slaughtered by the royalists. Can't you do something to break their lines? Use one of your metal monsters or something?" Loredun laughed in his squeaky laugh of his. ** ** "Lord Draco, if I were to send my armored vehicles so soon they would expect it. Instead, I make it appear that we lack sufficient vehicles to launch an armored assault. Send in another wave, then you will see the might of my men." Lucius could only bow in favor of the more experienced commander and signaled another wave of infantry to advance. ** Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe surveyed the next wave of enemy troops through his binoculars. This was the third time the enemy had sent a wave of cannon fodder into the defenses. The traitors advanced under a hail of artillery and heavy stubber fire as they made another determined push towards the Imperial defenses. They pushed forward and managed to reach the safety of the ditch. Sharpe smiled and signaled to his men; during the lull in the battle his men had drenched the ditch with fuel. In seconds, the entire ditch was a blazing inferno as men were engulfed in flames. It was that moment that Generalissimo Pietro Loredun made his move. With his "majestic" cape blowing in the wind, Loredun signaled his mechanized forces to attack. Sharpe looked the advancing vehicles and began to shout. "All missile teams load krak missiles! All grenade launchers load krak grenades! Hold them here! Bring up the anti-tank guns and give these bastards hell!" Sharpe stood up and ran along the line his men held. "Take your shots nice and slow men!" Missiles flew in defiance of the traitors' advance knocking out APCs left and right. Quickly the heavy thumping of the Soldatan carriage mount anti-tank guns joined the missiles, unleashing a devastating barrage of anti-armor fire on the traitor armor thrust. Despite vehicles being knocked out left and right, the traitors continued their determined attack. Turret mounted weapons spat out laser beams, slicing down the defenders. Infantry units made determined attacks and despite heavy losses, continued to reorganize after each assault and launch themselves into another offensive. Soon, the traitor forces realized that their vehicles could not be used to drive over the defenses. General Omura had foreseen the possibility of the enemy deploying armored forces against the city and the defenders had dug a series deep anti-tank ditches that had stalled the attack. "Lord Draco, send in another wave of infantry to support my men." Loredun turned to another officer. "I want the sappers to get their vehicles and use their dozer blades to fill those ditches. I will not sit here and watch my entire advance get bogged down another minute!" "Colonel! The bastards are sending another wave!" Sharpe swore loudly. Already, he had deployed the 2nd Soldatan to hold the secondary positions and provide anti-armor and sniper support. The front line trenches would not be able to stand the next push of enemy forces. "Have the Brunswick and the Royalists fall back to their secondary positions. I want the artillery to use a rolling bombardment to cover their movements. I want their heavy weapons repositioned first. Tell Sir Seiryn that if we are to hold the outer defenses we will need more men." His aide saluted and ran off to dispatch runners. Sharpe turned to the assembled officers. The Imperial artillery barrage intensified as the shells smashed enemy infantrymen into pieces. As quickly as they could, the Brunswick and the Royal Riflemen took up their new positions. Soon after the artillery fire pattered out, the enemy resumed their attack with a fury. "Colonel! The Amatsu Artillery reports that they cannot continue sustained barrages like that again for at least another fifteen minutes. They need a chance to cool off their barrels before resuming any artillery support." Sharpe nodded and dismissed the runner. He watched as the enemy charged once more. Men fell left and right as they were cut down by machine guns and rifle fire. The traitors clambered over the front line defenses and took them for their own uses and began to deliver disciplined and deadly of return fire. Moving up quickly were a formation of APCs mounted with dozer blades on the front. "Anti-armor units we got sappers incoming take them out!" shouted Sharpe. The word was passed quickly, but not fast enough as the sappers began to fill in the anti-tank ditches. By the time the first of the sapper vehicles had been knocked out, it was too late. The ditches had been filled to the point that the traitor mechanized units could cross over. Quickly, the APCs rumbled over the ditches, supported by dismounted sappers who dashed forward, demolition charges in hand, as they worked to remove obstacles that had placed to stop the traitor infantry. The sappers fought bravely to clear away the obstacles even as the defenders cut them down. Despites the defender's best efforts, the traitors had blown a hole in the obstacles or ground over them with their armored vehicles. Loredun's traitor guard was a disciplined and well-equipped lot. Armed with lascarbines and Guard issued uniforms and armor, they advanced expertly, suppressing the defenders as they went knocking out defenses wherever they could. Embolden by the success of the traitor guard, the rebels charged forward, bayonets fixed, and stormed into the trenches of the defenders. The fighting was hand-to-hand as a swirling melee erupted and as the defenders fought to hold the line. Sharpe groaned as the enemy swarmed his men. "Runner! I want you to let Colonel Storm know that our lines have been breached and we are preparing to abandon the outer defenses!" The runner saluted sharply and ran off. Sharpe picked up his rifle and moved to lead his men into battle. Positioning himself in a position overlooking the center of his line Sharpe took aim and began to deliver deadly rifle fire at the enemy. From his vantage point Sharpe could see the line faltering. Calling together his personnel bodyguard company, Sharpe's Chosen Men, he began to call out orders. "Chosen Men! Follow me!" With a roar Sharpe and his company charged into the fray. The charge boosted the morale of the faltering defenders as the renewed their vigorous defense. In minutes, the morale of the enemy snapped and they broke ranks and fell back in disarray. In their wake, they left hundreds of their dead and wounded strewn about among the defenders as they scrambled back to anywhere that they could seek shelter. "Colonel! We won't be able to stand another charge like that sir! If they hit us like that again, the natives are going to snap like twigs." Shouted one of Sharpe's senior officers. "The Brunswick maybe but the Royals are dedicated soldiers. But you're right, they hit us like that again and we're done for. Give the order for all units to withdraw into the city. It's time this battle moved into urban warfare." A chorus of responses answered Sharpe's words as his officers immediately began to withdraw the front line forces. Into the city they went as fresh units were moved up to meet the enemy street by street. The loyalists would meet the enemy in a grinding battle of attraction to buy time for reinforcements. Colonel Storm had pulled Sharpe and the regiments under his command back into the rear areas. There, they rested and rearmed and prepared to go back into the city. The battle at this point moved into urban warfare, a street-by-street blood bath. Sharpe watched as the city burned from the fires of war. He watched as the dead were carried out of the city by the hundreds and as more men were fed into the grinder by the thousands. Geffenia, that same time Lady Kyr, Sir Seiryn, General Hammond, the Inquisitors, Captain Ishida, General Omura, and an assortment of other Imperial Guard officers and local generals and nobles were gathered in a council of war. Debates were heated as Imperial Guard officers argued with their local counterparts over strategy and long-term campaign objectives. "Our goal should be to stall the enemy until further Guard forces can arrive to reinforce our forces and then launch a lighting counteroffensive and break the enemy through a punishing all out offensive with all the assets we can muster." Suggested D'Aoust. Seiryn quickly spoke up to support D'Aoust. "I agree with Colonel D'Aoust's suggestion. It will give my forces time to train and time for us to manufacturer more weapons and ammunition. With the support of Guard forces there is no way we can lose as long as we can hold the line." "Both of you are missing a critical element, can we hold out until reinforcements arrive?" Began General Hammond. "The naval task force in orbit is outnumbered and outgunned. The enemy on the ground has been reinforced and their weaponry has been upgraded. We no longer face an enemy that we hold a technological advantage over. They have at their disposal an unknown number of traitor marines and enjoy a serious advantage in air, armor, and artillery support. On top of that, our most elite infantry formations have suffered losses and we still have forces being tied up on our own territory hunting down enemy agents and sympathizers. We have no choice, we must do more then stall the enemy, we need to take the war to their home turf and disrupt their industry." D'Aoust threw a sideways glance at Sieryn. "General, with all due respect how are we going to mount an offensive operations against the enemy with our current strength?" "We launch a guerrilla campaign against the traitors. Colonel, we have the necessary forces to launch a protracted guerilla campaign. Ladies and gentlemen, I propose this course of action. We use Lady Kyr's loyalist forces to tie up the enemy here and prevent them from advancing further and creating a sinkhole that will eat up the enemy's recourses. They will be forced to fight a brutal battle of attrition while our guerilla warfare forces attack their supply routes and isolated units. This will further tie up their resources, as they will be forced to allocated troops to stopping our raids and further weaken them overall. Even if they decide not to commit to a battle of attraction then we will be able to use that time to train more men and increase our production capabilities. It is a risky plan, but it is the best course of action even if we fail to stop them." General Hammond inhaled audibly and continued. "Expect heavy casualties for all units. Any objections or questions?" "General, when are we to expect the reinforcements to arrive?" asked Colonel Minamoto. "Best estimates puts the arrival of the Naval battle group at around eight weeks. The first wave of Imperial Guard ground troops is at least nine weeks away and their transports will include a formation of Naval ships as escorts. Realistically speaking we are looking at almost six months of this. We have heard rumors that a Space Marine strike force may be en-route to assist us but this has not been confirmed yet. Though, I suggest telling the men otherwise to raise morale. Any other questions?" General Omura spoke up suddenly. "General Hammond, with all due respect you are putting a lot of faith on these reckless tactics who from my experience, just get them men killed. All we are going to do is throw lives away needlessly! One of my senior officers is severally injured and you are talking about sending his unit back out there when we have time to reorganize?" Omura was furious and his anger was showing. "General Omura, you surprise me especially considering your unit's history. But for the record, I am not throwing lives away. This will be a meticulously planned and orchestrated campaign. I want the enemy so tied up trying to defeat us that they leave crucial gaps in their defenses, allowing us the vital time to strike back and live long enough for our position here to be reinforced." Hammond looked at the assembled leaders. "Ladies and gentlemen we must make our stand, not here, but on the enemy's ground. Make them run circles around themselves trying to stop us." No one else raised a voice in protest or concern. Hammond smiled and nodded to each. "Good, lets go and win this war." 


End file.
